Safe, In Your Arms
by Crying Sorceress
Summary: [Complete] One second he was in her arm, secure and relaxed, another he was lying on the white rigid stretcher and being carried away by Russian men dressed in white coats and masks. “Farewell, Kai.” Something more than teenage drama. Not a MarySue KaiOC.
1. I Should Learn Japanese

Stay awake with the sound of my voice  
I'm restless from the silence in the air  
I want to be somewhere I can see the roads  
A place where every time you breathe a wish comes true  
I want to be where love is real  
And memories of distant days come to life again 

Far past these roads there is a place  
Where all of our precious dreams remain  
Someday I know   
I'll find a way  
To keep myself from holding on.

_-**The Longest Story** by Daphne Loves Derby_

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**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 1: I Should Learn Japanese**

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_Oh God, I love my life_.

Well, actually, I did. That is, until I stepped in this damn school.. And it's becoming quite annoying due to the fact that I'm lost. Lost in a forest? That's okay, but lost in a school? People would laugh at me; I bet that you're laughing right now. I should have taken that job as a comedian..

I'm one of those people who pretends to be able to read the map while reading it upside down.

I'm clueless. But most of the time, my brain/heart just doesn't have enough capacity for me to care.

My name? You don't need to know for now. All you have to know is that I'm stuck here, trying to find the office of this school. Why didn't I ask directions? Well, I don't speak Japanese… And yes, I am in Japan, could you believe that?

I can't.

Besides, people tell me that I resemble a guy. Women are always supposed to ask for directions while guys just walk straight down the road with their egotistical minds. Yup, that's me.

For all my life I believed that I was Chinese, or Vietnamese, but not Japanese—no offense to Japanese. My mom died of breast cancer when I was barely ten years old and it broke my heart. I've never been so close to my dad, not that he was some kind of drunk but because he cared too much about money. He always worked and never came home. Of course, my mom never suspected him to have an affair but his obsession with his company was too unreal. Well, at least he made a great deal of money off of it.

I've been spoiled for God-knows-how-long and I shouldn't even say that because I don't even believe in God. My family was never invited to church, we were "too greedy" to go there because if we did we would "bring sin". Exact quotes from the minister dude.

Since I never learned anything about religion, I've always been dreaming about magic. When I was five years old and I wanted to be a princess when I grew up. But now… I don't care. I'm a _nerd_. Anyway, back to the damn school.

The stupidest thing is that, well, there's no one in the hallways right now!

Turn right. Walk straight… left… left…

Mhmm, a glass door, that could be a sign. I knocked three times and waited. The first trait that I received from my mom: politeness. Only useful for first impressions.

When I heard someone mumble an order, which I have no clue what it meant, I just opened the door. I mean, come on, what did you expect me to do?

Luckily, I did find the office, but unfortunately there seemed to be a problem, the secretary didn't speak English, French, Chinese. Or Spanish. I know, I'm crazy, I learned all those languages because of my parents; they forced me to. You know why? Because they wanted me to become a translator. Scratch that, my dad wanted me to work for his company and be _the _manager of international trading. Fancy name. That wasn't a bad idea, I love to travel and all but still, I wasn't ready to decide my career. But the truth is, after not practicing those languages, I forgot most of them anyway. I'm only fluent in English. French and Spanish were just my _awesome_ dad's idea. And Chinese… I gave it up after my mom died and I never learned how to write it. My dad was never too fond of China.

So where was I? Yes yes… Well, I was about to learn Japanese but hey, guess what, I was ordered to go in Japan. Apparently my dear father abandoned me and married some white lady who was 15 years younger than him. I know, _pure joy_. I'm still angry at him for that. I'm not yet ready to forgive him. But at least I'm glad that he didn't marry right after my mom died. In fact, my mom died five years ago and my dad just got remarried last week. I guess that he stayed loyal for a bit and I'm at least glad for that.

Least, I could think of this "trip to Japan" as a vacation, I haven't even met that wife of my father's. She was probably one of those Britney Spears wannabees and considered her twirling batons as trophies.

The thing is, I've never really lived with my dad, he really loves New York and I hate noisy cities. I've been living with my mom in Salt Lake City and when my mom died, my father's ex-secretary (who retired three years ago) became my guardian.

Oh gosh, I was lost in my thoughts again, sorry about that.

"Hello, miss. Um, I'm new here," I said politely.

_Kasoghibnoabihsg._

Really, that's what I heard; I have no clue what she just said to me.

"Do you know anyone who speaks English?" I asked, hoping.

"I speaks Engrish," she replied, smiling.

I was so happy at that moment.

"Thanks so um. I'm new here, I wonder if I could get my schedule, timetable… whatever you call that. And perhaps a map of this school? And in English?"

She looked at me quizzically and scowled.

She hollered really loudly and I flinched. _What the hell?_ Don't you have this impression that Japanese people speak too quickly? Yeah… I'm experiencing that a lot.

An elderly-looking man came out of a room. I guess that he was the principal.

"Hello, miss. Yes I received an email about a new student. And I guess that's you," the man said with a Japanese accent.

"Oh God, thank you. Finally someone who speaks English," I paused, as I noticed his quizzical expression. "Um sorry, yes I am the new student and I wonder if I can get all my… stuff," I said, unsure of what to say to the old man.

"Sure thing," he replied as he mumbled some quick words to the secretary. "What classes do you want to take?"

"Um, I suppose that I want to take as many language electives as possible."

"Alright, we offer English, German, French, Chinese, Spanish and Russian. You have two elective spots, which courses do you choose?"

"Um, English and…," I mentally asked myself: _French or Russian? Or maybe German? No wait, not German. Mhmm._ "Um, French?" I replied. Hey, it should be in my genes. If my dad speaks French, I should too.

"Sure, and I believe that you learned those languages before," I nodded, "then we will put you in advance classes," I nodded again. My head is starting to hurt after all that nodding.

"Alright, I believe that you will go in the lower Japanese class," he said.

_What? _I mentally slapped myself. _What did he mean by that? That I'll be stuck with mentally challenged students or maybe young kids? Oh joy, oh joy to the world._

"Okay," I said, sighing.

"And I will need to test your math skills to place you in a math class. And also, do you have any sports interest?"

"Swimming," I mumbled.

"Right, you can tryout for the swim team tomorrow after school, I will inform the coach. So for tomorrow, you will take regular physical education. I shall give you your math placement test right now. And don't worry; I have an English version just for you."

The way he said _just for you_ made me feel special but I scrubbed that feeling off of me. Like a principal would care for me. Or maybe he just welcomed me because I was a "strange" person. Maybe he never saw half-white people before, yeah, that must be right.

"If you make the swim team, you will not take physical education which means that you will have a free period because swimming is before school. Would you want a free period or take another elective?"

"Um. I, well, I guess that I'll take an elective."

By now you must think that I'm crazy. I want more classes? Well the thing is that I don't exactly have a place to stay yet. I live in a hotel and today, after this school registration thing, I'll go find an apartment or a room or something.

"Which elective?" he asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I hated when people did that.

"I don't know, something fun."  
"Perhaps cooking?" I grimaced, "maybe not… well, photography?" I shook my head, "Music?"

I thought for a few seconds and smiled.

"Of course, sir," I replied, being polite again.

"Then it's set, your classes are Japanese, English, French, physical education, and math. And if you make the swim team, we will take out physical education to add music."

I nodded and thanked them.

"And, your name is Laura Fan?"

I blushed a little.

"Um, well yes that's my formal name but no one calls me by that—"

_Oh God why did he have to interrupt me?_

"You can let your teachers know of your nickname. We cannot register a fake name into our databases," the old man said. "By the way, I'm Mr. Arahata, the principal."

"Okay," I muttered, slightly embarrassed.

The secretary stood up, grabbed a stack of papers that were on her table and the principal gestured for me to follow the lady. I did so.

She took me to a nearby classroom and knocked on the door.

She exchanged some _non-understandable _conversations and I just stood there, blinking.

The teacher, who was a middle aged looking man, gestured me to come in. He pointed to a seat at the back of the class and I looked at him quizzically.

"Please sit thele," he said.

I nodded and began to make my way there but the secretary stopped me. She handed me the stack of papers that were in her hands. I glanced at the first page of the papers. _Math Placement Examination_, it said. I sighed. I haven't prepared for this! Oh well.

I slowly strolled my way to the back of the room, ignoring curious glances from others and sat there flatly. The secretary waved goodbye to the teacher and closed the door with a _click_. The teacher, I think, told students to resume to whatever they were doing and he started writing stuff on the board. Right away, I recognized that this teacher taught French because of the writings.

I decided to ignore them for now. I guess that I'll have this teacher, oh well, he looked nice. Nice as in nice personality that is. My hormones aren't that bad.

I looked around me once again and noticed several guys talking together. Apparently the whole class was doing a group activity. I couldn't distinct what they were saying because of their heavy accents, but it seemed that they were trying to have a conversation about… nothing in particular. That was odd. Oh well. Who cares. This class sounds interesting.

I scanned over the guys who sat most close to me. There were a guy with blue-black hair, his hair was long and was tied with a ponytail. I rolled my eyes, guys with longhair? Eww. Then I looked at the person sitting beside him, there was another guy with longhair but this one, his hair was raven black. He wore a white bandana and his hair was tied up in a thin and long braid. The third person had blue-and-slate hair—oh joy another blue-headed dude, maybe I should dye my hair blue too—he had blue triangles painted on his face. _Is he trying to be Indian? _That was weird. He looked rather… bored, he yawned three times already. Then the last guy, he had blonde hair. Oh yes! Blonde hair, someone normal! His hair wasn't that long either! I hope that he speaks English, oh please.

I let my eyes wander at the group of guys for a while and I noticed one of them—the boy with the slate hair—pock an eyebrow at me quizzically and annoyingly. I rolled my eyes and finally started working on my math placement test.

Now you probably wonder what my name really is. Well, I guess that I could tell you right now since you stayed around quite a while. Everyone calls me Forrest. Mainly because of my green eyes and the fact that I love the fresh air. I really adore camping even though I'm allergic to mosquito bites (resulting into chaos after every camping trip). But hey, that can't stop me!

I'm pretty energetic…and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. The weird thing is, I don't get high because of sugar, or drugs, if you want to know; it's just natural. I just tend to ramble a lot when I'm energetic and such. I used to scare people away. Too bad.

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Mhm. Well. It's about 10:20 now and I've been working on this test for 40 minutes. And I was on the last two problems. Personally, I'd say that it wasn't bad. I liked math. I know, don't freak out. I'm … not _exactly_ a nerd. You probably think that I am since I know so many languages and all and I like math. It's not that, it's just that since my childhood, all my math teachers have been brilliant and they taught me math the way that I enjoyed doing math. I'm not exactly good at it, but I ask a lot of questions and I learn from my mistakes.

Well, there you go. I finished the test.

I walked up to the teacher and opened the door to step out of the classroom. Before I got out, I couldn't help but to say a _merci beaucoup_ to the teacher, which surprised him. I grinned and closed the door without a sound. I walked again in that deserted hallway but this time, I wasn't lost. I felt… somehow proud of myself. I knocked on the door leading to the secretary and entered without her replying.

I handed to her the test and smiled.

"Thank you," I said.

She half smiled and gave me another stack of papers, luckily, I sighed, it wasn't a math test. It was a stack of forms that I had to fill out… in Japanese. Oh joy. Still, I thanked her again and walked out of the office. I didn't feel in the mood to talk to the principal. First I had to find an apartment.

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I walked out to a big street and waved my hand to a passing cab. The driver steered the wheel really quickly and it screeched as he made a U-turn to stop at the sidewalk near where I was standing. I showed the driver my address and he nodded. Now I hope that he doesn't make an extra detour because then I'll kill him.

Okay, I'm not violent and I don't care much about money mainly because my dad sends me a lot each month. Yes, and that's also why my father married a woman 15 years younger than him. He is _rich_.

Rich.

A filthy word.

I hate that word.

It destroyed my life.

My father owns several hotels in the world. And guess what? I'm living in his hotel right now! Joy, right? Oh no. That's why I'm finding myself an apartment. I can't live in _his _hotel, I'd be taking things for granted and I don't want to do that. Believe me, I don't, not at all. Well, _most of the time_, I don't. Yes, I'm a hypocrite.

I paid the cabdriver and stepped into the hotel.

"Hello, miss," a middle aged woman said to me.

"Hey, thanks for waiting for me. I got the school things taken care of. And did you find me a Japanese tutor?" I asked.

"No, sorry miss. Not yet."

"That's alright. Now, since you're better in Japanese than I am, I want you to help me find an apartment in this city."

The person nodded.

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you this, she's my assistant. I won't dare to call her maid; she's like a life manager for me. She takes care of everything _and _she speaks Japanese! Now, why didn't I bring her to school with me? Well, I actually thought that people would speak English, but I guess that I was really, really wrong. And ah, her name is Theresa.

"Thank you."

She went to work and I decided to take a swim in the pool. After all, I needed a lot of practice for the tryout tomorrow night.

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Now that I'm calm and I'm swimming I can tell you more about myself.

So my name is Forrest Fan—with two 'r's, I'm 15. Yes I'm fifteen! Well, almost sixteen. I just started my sophomore year.

Now you probably also wonder why my last name is Chinese if I told you that my father was white. Well, to tell you the truth, I was born before my parents got married. But yes, I was my dad's child. It was just that they didn't have enough time and my dad kept traveling around so my mother never got her marriage until I turned 7. By then, I already got used to my name so I decided to not change it. My father cared less, he always thought of me as a miscarriage. How nice of him.

I'm not big on my social life because nothing interesting ever happens, and I mean that.

Being the smart ass that I am, I was about to start calculus this year. Don't give me that look; I'm not what you think that I am! At least I'm not in _advanced calculus_, I remember a friend of mine who is taking that. Crazy, heh? Speaking of friends, I have some. The few friends that I have tend to be long-term; I'm really bad with short-term relationships. That's also why I never even considered dating anyone. Crushes are fine… but… I get over them in a month max. Alright, maybe a little more.

I sighed. There was no one in the pool; once again I was alone. Actually I didn't mind because I was often alone anyway. Shrug. Who cares? I like peaceful places, soft music and slow dances. Everything smooth, slow and steady. Yes. Suave is love.

Everything that contains a routine is also good for me.

And I hope that I can find a routine here, in Japan.

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**Author's Notes: **I'm going through all the chapters and taking out many AN's.

Shayna Tanaka belongs to _elementBLUE_ and Namiko Hunter to _Hikari_ _Konoshiro_. Thanks for letting me use your OC's :)

**Disclaimer: **This is for the whole story: I don't own Beyblade and don't make me repeat it.


	2. My New HouseMate

_Now where have I seen her before?_**  
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**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 2: My New House-Mate**

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The date… November 1st, boring day, like everyday. I don't see the point of school sometimes. It's more like socializing with your friends and personally if they want us to socialize, I would rather beyblade or chat or something. Idiots. They have no brains. Sometime I wonder if people even think. For example this one girl—who's name I seriously can't remember—asked me to the movies 5 times today.

I told her '_no_' 5 times. Can't she understand what I mean? Doesn't she have a brain? Oh well, to hell with that.

It's 4:30 now in the afternoon, and I'm still waiting for someone to call me, so that I can rent this freaking annoying room away. Personally, I think that my house is too big; actually, it's _way too big_. Not that I mind but my parents suggested that I should rent it out. They say that I should _socialize_, now that's a word that I hate.

I have "friends", they're my teammates, you know… the Bladebreakers. I'm sure that you've heard of them.

"Master Ray and Max are at the door, sir," James, my longtime butler, said.

James was a nice guy; he worked for my family for as long as I can remember. I could trust him with almost everything. After all, he practically raised me; I probably spent more time with him than with my parents. It's not my parents fault; they're just too busy with their business. And my brother too, he's gone in university.

"Hey, Kai!" Ray said as he patted my back. I turned my head slightly from the screen of my computer. I nodded and pocked an eyebrow. Ray was probably my best friend, Max was a bit of a softy and Tyson was a pig. Kenny… well he's Kenny, he only talks to his computer.

"Got bored," Max added.

I rolled my eyes in response. "Go ahead. Play, eat, whatever. Just leave me alone."

"Gee," Max said as he made himself comfortable on the couch in front of the TV. Ray grabbed the remote control and sat down.

The Chinese boy took out his beyblade.

"Anyone feel like having a match?" he asked.

"Hn, okay. Two minutes," I replied.

But suddenly James back again.

"Two ladies are at the door, one is asking about the room," he said. I nodded and waved to dismiss him.

"What's up?" Max asked quizzically.

"Parents want me to rent the big room upstairs away," I replied as I got up.

Two women sat in the big lounge. One older woman admiring some antique furniture that sat in the room. I merely smirked. The younger woman just sat there, expressionless, actually, she looked rather bored. I notice her yawn.

As I came closer I noticed the older woman had dark brown hair and some grey hair, but she looked very calm and warm. The younger woman, she looked… Chinese. I waved for Ray and Max to come over.

We all strolled over and sat across from the two women.

"Koni—" I started politely. After all, she was a stranger. But somehow she looked familiar.

"Oh joy. Theresa, I need to translate again, I'm so sorry," the younger woman said. Actually, I should call her a girl. She looked no older than 16.

"No need," Max said as he grinned. "English speaker right here," he said as he pointed to himself.

"Oh, thank God," the girl smiled as she said that. "So um, I'm interested about the room you're renting? And may I add that your house is quite… amazing."

I smirked.

"Yes, obviously, my parents sent famous architect to design this house, and everything else was planned perfectly. I think that you would enjoy it here. The room is upstairs, I could show it to you," it surprised me, yes really, how polite I was to this stranger. How odd. There was something that I liked about her, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

As I inspected this stranger further I noticed that she had dark green eyes, which was, very rare in Japan. But… she isn't Japanese, is she? She could be British? American?

I notice her grimace as I spoke. I must admit, my English wasn't the best, but at least, I could guess that it was better than her Japanese.

James stepped to the staircases and made a friendly gesture as I, too, went the staircases. Ray and Max both followed me… now I wonder where's Tyson and Kenny? Probably beyblading, which reminds me… I should be doing that too.

"Come on, follow us," Max said with a perfect American accent. I envied him for that.

The dark green-eyed girl and her companion followed us several steps behind. We made our way to a big room; it was my older brother's room—who's now in university in the Russia. My brother had a bigger room than me. But I cared less. I just loved the study room, with the TV, computer, video games and etc., oh and by the way, that's the room Ray, Max and me were in.

I turned the doorknob of the two big wooden doors. A big room with a magnificent red carpet appeared. It could have given anyone the impression that you were walking on the red carpet in Hollywood, like those stars. And as I turned my head, I saw the amazement of the older lady. Although she didn't quite show it, her mouth formed a 'O' but slowly faded away. I guess that those people were rich too; personally I would be impressed by the room if I didn't live here. Oh well. At least these people won't try to get money off of me.

"Velvet curtains and matching carpet all imported from India. Painting of Claude Monet there on the right. A small but original copy. The bed, king size, best quality. The sheets also made of velvet and pillowcases made of silk. There's a big walk-in closet, quite big and cozy. The bathroom, well I'll let you ladies explore," James said. I must admit, his English was no better than mine but his voice was… nice, I could say. Like I said, I didn't like to _socialize_.

"Thanks, sir," the younger lady said. I observed her as she made her way to the ruby colored bed. With her eyes wide, she stared at her environment and nodded happily. "I like this place. Although red isn't my favorite color, this looks lovely."

She walked further in the room. She traced the pattern of the pale green wallpaper with her fingers, I notice her lips curl into a smile.

Now you must say that I'm observant, I really am. Come on, if I don't _socialize_, so what would I do for the whole day?

After she walked around the room, examining it carefully, she sometimes squinted her eyes but she seemed happy. Then she stepped into the bathroom and nodded.

I knew the decorations by heart. Dark green marble sinks and bathtub. Crystal soap bottles and a gigantic mirror with lights. It was quite extravagant. The small details were ornamented with gold.

She stepped outside of the bathroom and smiled widely.

"You like it?" Max asked casually.

She nodded and gave a thumb up. Now, that was a language that I understood.

Hn, I don't mind sharing a house with a girl and her… companion. It can't be that bad, now can it? But one thing was weird; she looked younger than me. I'm 17 and ½ and just started my junior year. I must admit, I am a bit older than Ray, Max, Tyson and Kenny but who cared. I'm not very good in academics anyway. We go beyblading too much. After all, you could count beyblading as a career, right?

"Is there a pool?" the girl asked. I simply nodded in reply.

That girl was sort of odd, anyone that I would have known would have overreacted at this house, I don't even know why my parents bought this. Not that I cared. I like this place. This girl was mostly expressionless, she frowned often but smiled, which confused me but otherwise she was quite expressionless. But then again, I'm _blander_ than her.

I looked at her talking to the other lady, several times that girl grinned and looked as if she talked often with sarcasm. I liked that, sarcasm and humor. At least I would have a good… "roommate", no I couldn't call her a roommate. More like a house-mate. But who knows, she might decide to choose another house when she hears the price.

She didn't even go look at the pool. She just put a satisfied look on her face. She said something quickly to her maid in English, which I didn't catch.

"My lady likes this place. She wants to move in today, would that be possible?" the older lady asked me in Japanese.

I arched an eyebrow. Today? Well, that's a rush. But still, I nodded. I cared less.

"Arigatou," she said.

I gave her a nod which meant 'sure'.

"May I know your name?" I asked, trying out my English again.

"Forrest Fan," she replied.

Forest? As in woods? Well, I see where the name comes from her eyes. Not too bad.

"Kai Hiwatari," I said. "Do you go to high school?"

She nodded.

I frowned. Then it hit me, she was the girl who took a test in my second period class—French. Well, I wasn't going to tell her that I saw her before, was I? Then she'd think that I stalk people. I don't. I just observe and remember things, and that was a very useful quality for beyblading.

"So, how much?" she asked timidly. "I don't care how much I pay, as long as it's a considerable price," she added.

I was quite taken back by that then I nodded. Sure, whatever she wanted. Like I cared about money.

"On one condition," she started again. "My assistant Theresa needs a place to stay too."

So that's what she called the older lady, an assistant… interesting.

"There are small rooms upstairs, too. I could manage a room for her," I replied. It was true, this house had several smaller rooms, mainly guest rooms and James lived in one of them.

"Great, and um, Theresa can cook, clean and do a lot of things, she could help around."

Slowly I noticed Max and Ray leaving the room; James has been gone for a while now. Those two women and I were the only ones in the room.

"I'll take this room. So it's settled then? I'll move in tonight. I don't have much stuff so I'll go shopping for furniture and electronics today. Thank you, and good day to you," she said to me.

Before I could say anything, she stepped out of the room and waved for Theresa to follow her. I just shrugged. I, being polite, walked them to the door and closed it after they got out.

Well, one job done. I better search for Ray and Max now.

I looked around; they weren't in the study room or in the kitchen. So they much be outside, beyblading.

I was half right; Max was playing around with his blade while Ray was sitting on a thick branch 7 feet above from the ground. I bet he caught that habitude from me.

"Yo," Max said while his beyblade flew to his hand and he caught it.

Ray just swiftly jumped down from the tree and walked towards Max and me.

"So? What's up? Did she take it?" Max asked.

"Yeah. And I believe that we've seen her too. You know that girl who came French class today? That's her, I believe," I said.

"Oh. Well, that's good. I hope that she beyblades. We need a girl on the beyblade team," Ray said.

"What about Mariah?" Max asked casually.

Ray took several seconds to think about it but shook his head.

"Nah," he said. "Her attacks and mine are too similar. No good."

"What makes you think that Kai won't kick you out of the team and replace you with Mariah?" Max teased.

Ray elbowed him and rolled his eyes.

"Oh please. I don't know any woman who is good at beyblading," I spat.

"Come on," Max and Ray said at the same time.

I just shrugged. We weren't even sure if she beybladed or not. But it was true, we needed a new teammate, a guy or a girl, I cared less. As long as they're strong, I'll take them. We needed a wildcard or a replacement in case any of us can't beyblade. Yes, that's what we need. A wildcard. Someone who could surprise others. Someone who uses different strategies than us so when other teams study us they won't know about the newcomer. We'll place the person as a substitute in the statistics but we'll turn him/her into a secret weapon.

I rolled my eyes to myself. How was I going to find a prodigy like that? If someone like that existed in this city, they would have tried out for this team years ago. Oh well. Screw that plan.

"I'll call Tyson and Kenny over," Max said as he withdrew his cell phone from his pockets. I shrugged. Do whatever you want, I don't care. I have enough food for Tyson to pig out today. I just hope that they won't stay for dinner. It'd be awkward if that girl came back and she ate with… well, pigs like Tyson.

I scowled and quickly climbed the tree and sat flatly on that branch that Ray was on. I observed my environment and felt like sleeping. Such a boring day. Some fall colored leaves were on the ground. It was November. It turned cool but not cold. I felt like this winter would be a long one.

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**Author's Notes: **Kai's POV if you haven't already guessed so. Of course, he's not going to stay like that throughout the whole fic. I just _need _to develop him :P

No more POV's from now on! Yess.

Sorry for the absolutely dull & boring chapter.


	3. A New and Complicated Life

_Nothing is ever right in the beginning._

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**Safe, In Your Arms **

**Chapter 3: A New and Complicated Life**

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Stepping in an electronics store, Forrest sighed. _Here we go_. She had already bought the study desk that she needed. And also new clothes, daily used things, books for school and etc.

_I'm so lucky that I have Theresa_, she thought as she smiled to herself. _Without her, I would never manage a budget_.

It was half true though, Forrest Fan did not exactly have a budget because of her father, but she feared asking him for money. She saw it as shame. She wanted to succeed on her own, not take things for granted.

She looked around and saw a row with displaced laptops.

_Desktop or laptop?_ she asked herself.

She shrugged and walked to the row of laptops with her assistant Theresa following her.

A sales assistant arrived in the matter of seconds. Forrest immediately nodded, greeting the sales person and she pointed to the first laptop on display—the most expensive and new one in the store.

Without hesitation, the sales assistant made a gesture to tell Forrest and Theresa to stay where they are. It didn't take long for the person to come back with a box, obviously containing the laptop inside.

"Arigatou," Forrest said as she took the box and proceeded to the cashier.

* * *

"Master Kai, Miss Forrest and Miss Theresa are at the door," James said as he knocked on the door. 

The blue-headed boy named Kai nodded to dismiss his butler. He walked outside and saw Forrest, wearing a dark blue hoodie and black jeans.

"Sorry, Theresa will come later. She is still checking out my hotel room," she said.

Kai just stayed expressionless, his teammates just left minutes ago.

"James, please help carry Miss Forrest's luggage to her room," he stated flatly.

Forrest looked at the teenage boy with interest. _How could he be so… emotionless?_ she asked herself. _Oh well, maybe he's just one of those spoiled rich brats. I mean, look at his house. Oh brother, this is going to be a long year._

She walked to the room and admired it one more time before opening the box that contained her new laptop.

"There should be a man delivering a new study desk that I just bought," she said casually.

True to her words, a man did come several minutes later. With the help of several butlers, they carried the desk upstairs to the room.

"Thank you," she said as she gave the delivery man a small tip. She also thanked the others and smiled.

Kai stood at the door, waiting for her to say something to him. He waited for several minutes but Forrest stayed silent—she was plugging wires in the computer and trying to install several programs on it.

"Do you beyblade?" he asked. She nodded. "Were you ever in a team?" She shook her head. "For how long have you beybladed?"

"About a year or so, not really long. Swimming is my favorite sport; I don't have much time for beyblading. I'm not bad though, at least, that's what I heard," she said, not over confident but not missing any confidence either.

With that, Kai decided to leave her alone. He needed not a weak player who merely played for a year, but before he left, he asked one more question:

"What element does your bit-beast control? … If you have a bit-beast that is."

"It depends," she replied, shrugging. "But I do have a bit-beast."

"What's the name of it?"

"Why do you care?"

"Hn."

"It's Starlet."

_Starlet for hope?_

* * *

Forrest swam again, for the second time in the same day. And she was quite glad that the water was heated. 

_Freestyle, then backstrokes._ _Mhmm, I'll do several laps by breaststrokes and I'll try to improve my butterflies,_ she thought as she started doing her first dozen of laps in the pool.

After the Bladebreakers left, Kai was even more bored so he decided to train Dranzer a bit in the backyard. He knew that Forrest was swimming there but he guessed that she wouldn't care.

_One-piece swimsuit?_ _Well, that girl is sure scared to show flesh,_ he thought as he told Dranzer to try to cut through thick branches laid out on the ground.

He couldn't help to admit that he was disappointed that Forrest didn't beyblade well.

_But she's a female, and females don't blade well anyway. Even with years of training,_ he thought as he grinned. Dranzer almost cut a tree down with one attack.

He didn't want to destroy the garden, so Kai ordered Dranzer to practice speed instead. Kai threw rocks at Dranzer and the bit-beast dodged every one of them.

"Nice work, Dranzer."

The phoenix gave a casual look to Kai and entered the blade. Immediately, the blade stopped spinning. Kai crouched down to retrieve his blade. After that, he made himself to the study room; he had some Japanese homework to finish.

He checked his watch, _18:48_, it read. As he looked at the pool, he saw Forrest, still doing her laps and apparently she was doing butterflies.

"Dinner in fifteen minutes!" Kai called as he disappeared from Forrest's sight.

_Fifteen minutes? Perfect timing_, Forrest thought as she did her last butterflies lap. _I'm starving_.

Slowly, she got out of the pool and dried herself roughly with a towel. She wrapped herself with it and ran to her room.

"Sorry about the water!" she told the maids who stared at her. Water was dripping from her hair, forming a trail on the expensive carpet.

As she arrived in her bathroom, she threw her towel on the ground and took a shower, making sure to use conditioner on her hair. She was still a girl after all.

* * *

"Ah, miss Forrest. I have just completed your school forms, you're all set to go," Theresa said as she saw Forrest enter the dinning room. 

Forrest Fan didn't look too interested.

"Thanks, Theresa," she said as she sat down and looked at the food. "Sushi? Nice. My favorites. Mhm, and I've seen this soup before."

"We weren't sure which one you preferred so we prepared several kinds of sushi," an elderly woman said.

"Thank you, I love it. Don't you, Hiwatari?" Forrest turned her attention to Kai.

The blue-haired boy shrugged and ate quietly his meal. Forrest rolled her eyes and ate. Several minutes later, the cooks and maids left to eat on their own. Only Forrest, Kai, Theresa and James remained at the table.

"So, um, Hiwatari? Are you in 10th grade?" Forrest asked, hoping to start a conversation.

"No, 11th," he replied, simply. "You?"

"Tenth."

"You look like an eighth grader," he stated flatly.

"Gee, _thanks_. But it's okay, I'm not tall anyway," Forrest said, sticking out her tongue.

"And immature," Kai added.

"Oh, shut up."

And that was the end of it.

_So much for hoping to live in a fun house_, Forrest thought as she finished her last sushi.

Several maids stepped in again and served the dessert, some red bean made sweet things wrapped with leaves. Forrest looked at the dessert and tilted her head. She never saw those before.

_Too sweet_, she thought as she took a bite. The raven haired girl finished her dessert in a few bites, took a napkin and wiped her mouth with it.

"Thank you for the dinner!" she exclaimed as she went to her room.

Entering her room, she smiled as she heard one of her favorite songs playing on her computer. She sat on the bed and hugged herself like a scared cat.

Forrest liked all kinds of music, but mainly soft music. She did mainly like a singer or a band, but she had favorite songs. For her, the lyrics of songs were the most important part so she searched for good music through lyrics.

_All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right  
I'm tripping on words  
You've got my head spinning  
I don't know where to go from here_

_Cause_ _it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do  
Nothing to prove  
And it's you and me and all of the people  
And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes—_

"Miss Forrest?"

The girl jumped and leaned forward to turn the volume lower. Luckily, she didn't fall.

"Yes?" she asked with slight annoyance.

"Sorry. A man named David called, he's on the line right now, do you wish to answer?"

"No. Tell him to _get the hell out of my life_, thank you."

Forrest giggled to herself as she saw the face of the maid when she said those words.

_Not today. I won't let his speech about money ruin my first day in Japan_, she thought as she stood up and went to her walk-in closet, searching for more comfortable clothes as the ones she had on were wet from her hair.

She looked around and saw in one corner several pieces of the same clothing hanging there.

_I never bought those before_, she thought.

As she walked to the clothes she sighed. _Oh man. Uniforms? I bet Theresa bought them. Mhm, oh yeah, I remember now. That school requires them. Oh damn it._

Forrest hated skirts and ties and the uniform had both of them. Skirts were awfully annoying for her, you couldn't sit on the ground and ties always ended suffocating her one way or the other.

"Pfft, my luck."

* * *

The next morning came, and as soon as she woke up, Forrest already felt like a comet just hit her. In other words, she had a big headache and felt extremely unlucky. And her premonition proved true, she was late. 

She quickly put on her uniforms, grabbed her backpack, ran downstairs, and got out of the house but before she could get far, she heard a _honk_. It was James driving a black car. Forrest tilted her head.

"Hi, James! Sorry, I don't have time, I'm going to be late," she exclaimed.

"I'm giving master Kai a ride, do you wish to have one too?" he asked, kindly.

The 10th grader's face immediately lightened up. _Never mind the bad luck, I feel lucky now_, she thought as she thanked James and glided in the car.

As she entered the car, she took a seat in the back and she looked at Kai, who scowled.

"I'm not the person who invited you here," he said, not looking at her.

Forrest shrugged. She was too happy to let Kai ruin her mood.

"Why, hello Hiwatari! I feel weird today. Like you know, your first day of school in first grade. I hope that I'll live through. I've no clue what Japanese school is like," she started rambling.

Kai just sat there, listening. Even though he didn't pay much attention, he caught every word that she said.

_A bad thing about having a good memory_, he thought as he tried to block Forrest's voice from his ears.

"…it's just that after the incident yesterday, you know, I was lost in school. I'm pretty scared and all, and seriously, I don't think that I'll understand a thing today. Oh God, and, and, do you know anyone who could tutor me in Japanese?"

Kai was opening the door at that time and he looked back at Forrest, who was still sitting, she was unaware that they already arrived.

"Get out. And no," he said as he slammed the door.

"Gee, okay. Be mean to me. Goodbye! I'll get my schedule. I hope that I get a class with you!" Forrest said as she ran to the office. Luckily this time she recognized her environment at least a little bit better.

"Um, my schedule?" she inquired at the secretary. "Thanks," she added as she took it and scanned it.

_Japanese, 2nd lang. 201 8:15-9:30_

_French, Advanced 102 9:35-10:50_

_Physical Education --- 10:55-12:10_

_Lunch --- 12:10-1:30_

_English, Advanced 134 1:30-2:45_

_Calculus 215 2:50-4:05_

_So this school has two floors. Good luck to me_, Forrest thought as she climbed the stairs to the second floor. _201… phew._ _Found it._

She checked her watch, straightened her skirt and put a forced smile on her face. _Here goes nothing,_ she thought as she peered through the door.

Her first class, obviously, was only for people who didn't speak Japanese. She sighed in relief as she saw some people who looked European, American and other ethnicities than Japanese.

"Hey there, I believe that you speak English," the teacher greeted.

Forrest examined the teacher who stood in front of her. It was a young lady with wavy dirty blond hair. She had watery forget-me-not blue eyes and a fake smile.

"Yes, I do," Forrest replied. _I don't like her, at all,_ she thought as she took a seat in the front of the class.

"Oh no, miss. I will assign you your seat. This is school and you must listen for my instructions," the teacher said with much authority.

Forrest frowned and nodded, a soft blush crept up her cheeks. She was embarrassed and the whole class was staring at her. Just then the bell rang and the door suddenly opened.

"Phewww, right on time. Ohayo Akiyo-sama!" the newcomer said.

"Jane, sit down. Please arrive on time. This is your third tardy," Miss Akiyo piped.

"You haven't told me where I sat, yet, Miss Akiyo," Forrest said, impatient.

"Tut tut. No need to rush me, Miss I-know-everything," Akiyo said with disgust, "there," she added, pointing to the seat beside the girl named Jane.

Forrest took slow steps on purpose and dragged her feet to the seat beside Jane.

"It's Janet. Not Jane, by the way. What about you?"

"Forrest Fan. And that's F-o-r-r-e-s-t. Nice to meet you," Forrest replied, this time with a real smile.

_She seems like a nice girl_, Forrest thought.

Janet had light-brown eyes. Her eyes were a light brown that was very close to orange, which made her eyes look cat-like. Her face was oval and her cheeks were red due to the fact that she ran to school. Her hair was a dark crimson with orange highlights which gave the impression that her hair was on fire. Janet wore uniforms that were slightly too big for her but nevertheless she looked content and cheerful.

Forrest sat down and looked at the board, where Miss Akiyo wrote the date down.

"Now, before I was rudely interrupted, I was saying that today we are going to practice on vocabulary building. I believe that many of you are not very strong in vocabulary so this lesson will help a lot. Now, I gave you an assignment to read and answer questions yesterday. I'm quite sure that many of you did not fully understand the story. So now, please take a dictionary from the shelf—" she pointed to the corner of the room where a mahogany shelf stood, "and find the definition of the words that you did not understand. I want you to copy the words 10 times and the definitions 3 times. Is that understood?"

A wave of "yes ma'am" and "yes Akiyo-sama" rang through the room.

"Laura Fan," Miss Akiyo called.

Forrest walked to the front of the class, confused.

"It's Forrest, not Laura," Forrest said.

"You will share a dictionary with your seat partner, Jane, for today," she said ignoring Forrest. "I want you to buy a dictionary tonight and put your name on it so that I can keep it in—"

"Oh, Miss Akiyo. I have brought a dictionary. An English-Japanese and vice-versa—"

"Now, it is rude to interrupt me, miss. Go to work. And read that story now!" Miss Akiyo yelled as she lost her temper.

Forrest scurried back to her seat and drew a big breath in.

_That bitch._

"Hey, it's okay. Don't mind her. She's having emotional issues. She cried yesterday in class. Probably broke up with her boyfriend or something," Janet said reading Forrest's thoughts.

"I'm fine. Thanks."

Forrest quickly adapted to the temper of the young teacher. She learned to not speak and to never raise her hand unless she was 210 percent sure of an answer because or else, Miss Akiyo often hollered at the student for wrong answers which resulted in no class participation.

"Class dismissed," Miss Akiyo said with slight annoyance.

The whole class stood up, bowed and there was a wave of "goodbye Akiyo-sama".

"What's your next class?" Forest asked as she packed her bags quickly.

"PE. You?"

"Advanced French," Forrest said, sighing.

"Oh. Don't worry. Mr. LeBoeuf is quite nice."  
"I know. Hey. I'll see you!" Forrest said as she got out of the class, made her way in the crowded hallways.

She followed her memories from the day before and entered the room 102.

_9:33, the class starts in two minutes. Yes I'm on time!_ Forrest thought as she looked at the teacher. She recognized that face with the gentle smile.

Mr. LeBoeuf had light brown hair with some strands of grey hair. He wasn't quite thin and Forrest could notice his full belly hanging.

"Ah bonjour mademoiselle! Vous etes la nouvelle eleve?" he asked, in French. (Ah, hello miss! You are the new student?)

Forrest nodded and blushed a little.

_Maybe he doesn't remember me from yesterday… it's okay_, she thought.

Mr. LeBoeuf pointed in the same direction as yesterday. Forrest's eyes wandered at the seat where she sat yesterday, beside the group of guys.

Then it hit her, Kai Hiwatari was in that group of guys.

_Oh, duh. Of course! Two toned blue hair. Oh God, I'm stupid. I'm getting Alzheimer,_ Forrest thought as she mentally slapped herself.

She made her way to the group of boys and eyed Kai. She gave him a weak smile and glanced at the other guys. The four guys were seated in a square.

"Tyson," the blue-black haired boy said. Tyson sat at the bottom right of the four.

"Ray," the raven haired boy followed, seating at the top right.

Then a grunt was heard, it was coming from Kai who sat on the left of Ray.

"Max," the last guy said, with a perfect American accent. Max sat beside Tyson at the bottom left.

"Yo. I think that I saw you before, haven't I?" Forrest said as she grinned slightly.

"Where are you from?" Max asked as Forrest took a seat beside him and diagonally across from Kai.

"Salt Lake City," Forest replied as she took out her French book.

Max was about to reply but Mr. LeBoeuf gave an attention-catching cough.

"Alors. On a une nouvelle eleve. Je pense qu'elle sera tres contente de se presenter," the teacher said. (So. We have a new student. I think that she'll be very glad to introduce herself.)

Forrest's cheeks were tainted with a deeper blush as she nodded.

"Salut," she said as she slowly stood up, "mon nom est Forrest Fan, je viens de l'Amerique et je suis ravie d'etre dans cette classe. J'espere que j'aurais le temps de m'introduire personellement a chacun de vous. Merci." (Hey, my name is Forrest Fan, I'm from America and I'm glad to be in this class. I hope that I'll have the time to personally introduce myself to each one of you. Thanks.)

_That was so cheesy_, she thought as she sat down and grimaced. Her cheeks lost a bit of its redness.

Mr. LeBoeuf waved his hand and sat down at his own seats. He expected everyone to know what to do but Forrest was confused. She looked around her and saw everyone conversing in French.

"Mon professor de maths est ennuyant," Tyson said with a yawn. (My math teacher is annoying/boring).

"Um, guys, what are we supposed to do?" Forrest asked timidly.

" 'Converse between yourselves in French for warm up,' " Ray said, imitating Mr. LeBoeuf's deep voice.

Forrest couldn't help but to giggle a little bit.

"You guys all speak English?"

The Bladebreakers all nodded. Kai looked away and rolled his eyes.

"I don't see the point of this class. We're not exactly learning anything. Half of the class is speaking Japanese right now and he doesn't care," Kai said with a cold voice.

Ray laughed and patted the blue haired boy on the back.

"That's the fun of it! We're not doing anything. Chill, Kai," the Chinese boy said.

The class passed by at a semi-fast speed and Forrest was glad that at least she made _some_ friends.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Next chapter is where it starts to get interesting. Introductions are over so the plot thickens :D 


	4. What a Fiasco

_If only life was this exciting._**

* * *

**

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 4: What a Fiasco**

**

* * *

**

"Hey Forrest, see you at lunch!" Ray exclaimed as they all went their separate ways to their next classes.

Forrest found a fondness in Ray mainly because their personalities matched. Both were loyal to friends and family—Forrest was loyal to everyone on her mother's side. Ray had a calm personality but was outgoing with his friends, and the green-eyed had similar feelings. Around strangers, she stuttered and blushed a lot but around people she knew, she was open and friendly.

Forrest stepped outside of the school building and went to the basketball courts.

_I wonder where the locker rooms are…_Forrest asked herself as she turned left into a corridor. _This doesn't seem right._

After some seconds of walking, Forrest was sure of her words. The hallway was dimly lighted and it smelled of rotten things. _Oh joy._

As she turned right she saw a door so she decided to push open. But to her disappointment, it led to another corridor, even darker than the one she was in at the time.

She was about to leave but suddenly she recognized a familiar silhouette. Spiky and messed up hair and tall guy, and he looked like he was bending over something. His arms were pressing against the wall.

Forrest approached with hope.

"Kai Hiwatari, is that you?" she asked with a squeaky voice. _That didn't come out right,_ she thought as she coughed.

To her horror, the person was Kai and he gave a big and angry roar. Obviously he was busy. His shirt was tucked in wrong and his tie was let loosely hanging around his neck. An arm was wrapped around his neck.

Forrest didn't have to guess anything after she heard a feminine groan.

"Kai? What's wrong?" came the feminine voice.

_Oh my God_, she thought as she ran out of the dark. _That is so… argh. My innocent eyes._

She ran, ran and ran some more until she reached the light. It almost blinded her so Forrest covered her eyes for a few seconds. To her curiosity, she heard cheers and noises so she moved her arm to see her surroundings.

The empty basketball court was filled with people; most of them were sitting down to watch a battle of sexes between 2 guys and 2 girls. They paid no attention to her and kept playing. Besides, even if they did, she would have nothing to say to them. Everything would be lost in translation.

_I really am late, now_, she told herself as she slowly tried to disappear from the sight of others. _There's no point in going to PE now. I'll just… skip it._

Skipping class was a thing that she would have never think of before because she was Miss oh-so-perfect-Forrest but after almost running into Kai and his girlfriend in the dark hallway, her mind just told her to cool down and relax.

_Besides, PE isn't important, right? It's not like it's useful… I'll do swimming. And God, I hope that no one notices me gone. I mean, why should they? I'm a new student_, thoughts raced in Forest's mind as she promenaded over to a fat tree.

A pile of dried up leaves piled at the root of the old tree and Forrest made herself comfortable on the pile of leaves. Unsure, she slowly leaned on the trunk and closed her eyes, not before she skimmed the environment. Everything looked right. _I hope_.

* * *

"Spying on others and now skipping—" came a cold and dangerous voice. 

Forrest gave a sharp scream that could be heard miles away but before she could turn around and run away, a hand clasped on her mouth.

"God, woman. Calm down!"

Forrest immediately recognized the voice. She flinched and felt like she was about the collapse. The same person that she's been trying to avoid for the past 10 minutes just found her alone and defenseless.

"OhmyGoddon'tkillmeKai!" she gasped, panting as she grabbed his arms and flung them away from her.

"Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. I'm not trying to kill you!" he yelled. "Wait," he stopped. "What did you just call me?"

"Uh… Kai?"

She watched her house-mate's sanguine eyes focus, his pupils becoming cat-like and scary. She shuddered and tried to back away a little bit but her legs wouldn't obey. Finally, after what seemed an eternity of intensity, Kai's eyes softened by a little bit and he relaxed.

"What _are_ you doing here? Wandering around school?" he asked casually.

Forrest looked at him and tilted her head. _How can he change emotions that… quickly? _she asked herself.

"Got lost," she muttered, slightly embarrassed.

Kai Hiwatari gave a cold laugh.

"Lost? Pathetic. But then, it's expected from you, isn't it? I bet you got lost in a dark and hidden corridor too. Now, did you? Or were you following me?" he asked.

Forrest bit her lower lip and felt the intensity rise in the air again. She shook her head continuously with fear, not caring how dizzy it made her. Her legs shook with fear, she felt like the whole world was watching her and her heart sank to the bottom of a black hole. With a _thud_, she collapsed to the ground and covered her eyes with her hands, scared to let Kai see her in her miserable situation.

_What? So weak. So weak… What did I do?_ the two-toned haired boy asked to himself, not believing that a girl just cried in front of him.

He saw girls cry before; girls crying because of physical pain but never a girl who cried because he had scared her. He knew not what to do.

So he tried putting his hand on her head, comforting her silently but it didn't work well, she was still sobbing half-silently. He could hear her _sniff_ every five seconds and her heavy breathing. Then he tried to sit beside her, so that she could lean on his shoulder, but she didn't. She just sat there, on the dirty leaves, her hands blocking her dirty but delicate face. He felt useless.

Kai sighed and looked at Forrest, confused.

_Now that's a thing that we should learn in school,_ he thought, _we should learn how to deal with emotional girls. _

He watched her as he sat beside her, not knowing what to do with this half-stranger. He did not know what she liked, what she wanted or anything else about her except that she was a new exchange student two years younger than he was.

Silently, he stood up and sighed.

He didn't say anything but gave her a look full of pity before walking away from her, kicking some leaves as he strolled away. And that was just another autumn day, wasn't it?

* * *

She sat there, numb, and unable to feel the world around her. She heard rustles of leaves, meaning that Kai was moving around. She peeked through her hands and saw him sit down beside her. That didn't help, she still felt terrible inside. 

_How could a person scare me so much?_ she asked herself. But to her dismay, no answer came.

So she just sat there, waiting for her heartbeat to go back to normal. It took a while and after her urge of sobbing disappeared, she found her shirt wet with tears and Kai gone.

_It's better when he's not here_, she told herself as she slowly got up.

A headache shot right through her and she gasped. She pressed a hand against her forehead. She tilted her head and checked her watch, _12:25_.

"Fifteen minutes into lunch", she sighed. "I better go find the guys. As for Kai, I just hope that he went to **hell**."

On her way to lunch, where Ray told her that they ate, she went to the bathroom and dried her eyes and then made sure that they weren't red. She didn't want others to know that she cried. Crying on a first day? How pathetic. She even laughed at herself.

After washing her face several times, she was satisfied.

She forced a smile onto her lips and walked to the lunch place. Surprisingly, when she arrived at the place, she discovered that it was at the backyard of the school. She looked around and saw Max waving at her. She squinted her eyes and to her horror, Kai was there and so was a boy that she did not meet yet. The boy had dark brown hair and glasses that blocked his eyes. Forrest couldn't read the boy's expression very well but from the smile on his face, she could tell that he was happy. _Unless he's smiling like I am_.

"Heya!" she called to the group, smiling.

"You're late!" Ray exclaimed, chuckling.

Forrest stuck her tongue out childishly and sat down on the bench beside Ray.

_At least Kai's sitting in the tree_, she thought, avoiding every gaze that he sent her.

It was true. Kai Hiwatari was perching on the tree, right above Forrest's head.

_So she hides her feelings well, but I can see her weakness inside. Her eyes full of deep troubles. Her eyes full of worries that will never end_, he pondered to himself.

The blue-haired boy didn't eat, he had a piece of grass between his teeth and he _observed_.

"What class did you have?" Tyson asked.

"Oh, Physical education, it was fun. I watched two brilliant guys play basketball against two talented girls. The match was almost a stalemate," Forrest lied.

"From the way that you're speaking. It sounds like you have a crush on one of the guys," Ray teased. Then he took a bite of his lunch that consisted of noodles and several kinds of vegetables.

Forrest felt her cheeks get hot and closed her eyes for a second.

"God, Ray. Shuddup," she replied, pushing him playfully.

Forrest felt not like eating, besides, she forgot her lunch anyway.

It was to her surprise that she got along with the Bladebreakers—except for Kai—so well. They were welcoming—except for Kai. They were friendly—except for Kai. They were fun to be with—except for Kai. They all had something that she liked, for Tyson it was his naiveté which Forrest found amusing. For Max, it was his nice friendship and his pure soul that she liked. Ray, she really liked his loyalty, his courage and his humor. And she even found likings in Kenny, who was a genius and a quiet kid. But for Kai, she wasn't sure at all. He was cold, distant, threatening, and since the incident, she haven't dared to look at him in the eyes. She knew that he watched her from time to time because she felt a cold gaze on the back of her head and Kai was the only person sitting on that tree, having a perfect bird view of his teammates and Forrest Fan. But somehow, inside of her, she knew that he was special, he was special in a way to her. Maybe just because he could scare her easily.

"What's your next class?" Forrest asked casually.

"Chemistry," Ray answered.

"Japanese," Tyson replied, grimacing. Forrest sweat dropped.

"I'm with Tyson. I have Japanese too," Kenny added.

"English," Max said.

"Oh! I have English too. Are you in room 134?" Forrest asked with slight enthusiasm.

Max nodded happily and took the last bite of his lunch.

Not wanting for people to think that something happened between them, Forest found a bit of courage in herself.

"You, Hiwatari?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"Hn. None of your business."

_Typical._ _Oh well. At least no one will notice any change_, Forrest thought.

The girl gave a peak to her watch, _1:23_.

"Do you want to go now, Max?" Forrest asked, hoping to escape Kai.

Max shrugged and took his backpack. He jumped from his seat and walked to Forrest. He gave her his hand and she took it with gratitude.

"Thanks," she mumbled as she straightened her skirt and blouse. She looked at Max and grinned. "Let's go."

The day ended fast for Forrest, she found a seat beside Max and met a friend named Emily, a sophomore, who blushed at the mention of Max's name. Forrest couldn't help but to giggle at the thought.

_Those two are too obvious_, she thought as she made her way to calculus.

* * *

Calculus was boring. Forrest had difficulty to stay awake. She sat in the back of the class and got unnoticed through the period. For several times, her head rested on her arms and she just sat there, half-sleeping and half-awake. 

When the bell rang, Forrest almost screamed in surprise. She had fallen asleep. She started packing her stuff and gave a great yawn.

_Tryout in half an hour._ _Better hurry up_, she told herself as she copied down the homework on a sheet of scrap paper and slipped it in her pockets

She scurried down two flights of stairs and bumped into someone.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she started running again.

But the person caught her arm and caught her attention. Forest green eyes met the crimson ones. Forrest recognized those eyes and looked away. But he called her name and she felt ashamed to not look at him.

_I shouldn't be scared_, she told herself. _I live with him. How can I avoid him forever?_

So she brought up her eyes and to her surprise, Kai's eyes held a new expression, an expression that she never thought before: confusion. She bit her lower lip and drew a deep breath.

"Look—" they both started.

"Go on," Forrest said.

"I'm … well," he started.

Forrest waited for the words.

_I hate apologizing. I never say it right_, Kai thought as he felt like a fur ball was stuck in his throat.

"Apology accepted. Now, I gotta go. See you. Wish me luck," she replied, reading his mind. But her facial expression showed nothing of what she had said.

_Fake smiles._ _Such a fake world. If you're scared to show your emotions, you're worthless. You weren't as strong as I thought_, Kai thought as he slowly walked away. He had to meet _someone_ after school. _I hope that she didn't mind the fact that Forrest saw us._

Forrest dashed down the stairs once again, pretending to feel like nothing happened. But it wasn't true. She felt confused and relieved at the same time.

_At least I can face him at home_, she thought as she arrived at the swimming pool.

In front of her stood a young-looking man with a whistle hanging from his neck.

"Folest Fan?" the coach asked.

"F-o-r-r-e-s-t F-a-n," Forrest spell out her name as she took her swimsuit out.

The coach pointed to a direction and Forrest quickly dashed to the changing rooms, not wanting to keep the coach waiting for long.

She quickly changed herself, tied her hair up, put her swimming cap and her goggles on.

"I'm ready," she said.

The coach nodded and explained what she had to do in Japanese. Forrest had to make him repeat several sentences because she couldn't understand very well. She held out five fingers and repeated 'breaststrokes' several times and waited for the coach to nod.

Her assistant, Theresa, has been helping her with Japanese but learning a language in two days wasn't easy at all.

"Okay. So 500 meters for my best stroke, and 500 meters for another stroke," Forrest repeated, finally understanding what he had said. She thought that he wanted her to swim 500 laps.

The coach nodded.

_That's a **lot** for a tryout, _she told herself as she jumped in the water and felt her muscles relax. _Alright Forest, it comes down to this. Relax… forget about Kai. Forget about everything, just keep swimming._ She blinked to herself. _Yeah, just keep swimming._

She looked at the coach and saw his arm in the air and his whistle in his mouth.

He blew the whistle and Forrest immediately pushed the wall with her feet and launched into the water feeling free like a fish in the ocean.

_One, two, breathe. One, two, breathe. Come on. A little more_, she told herself as she neared the other side of the swimming pool.

For her best stroke, Forrest chose freestyle, the fastest one. And for the second 500 meters, she chose breaststrokes, which were much more relaxing but she could still swim at an averagely fast speed.

With one last kick with her legs, Forrest felt her fingertips touch the wall and she quickly brought up her head. It was with relief that she resurfaced. Two more laps and she would have fainted. _Asians sure demand more_. She used to be on the school swim team but they never had so much vigorous training.

The coach gave a grin and clapped. He was satisfied of the time on his stopwatch.

"Thanks," Forrest thanked as she got out of the pool and put a towel around her.

"We'll take you," he told her in Japanese. "I'll inform the counselors of your change of schedule. Tomorrow morning you will report to swimming practice. Good day."

Without another word, the coach left, satisfied. Forrest felt her heart leap with joy. _I made it! I made it! All that training and I'm in! _

She practically hopped to the dressing rooms and changed while daydreaming.

_It's going to be hard if I want to keep up with the team. I'll have to practice more each day. But I'm gonna do fine. Yes. I'll be fine_, she told herself, full of confidence. Actually, so much confidence that it spoiled her.

* * *

Sitting in his study room with Tyson, Max, Ray and Kenny, Kai was watching the TV for anything interesting on beyblading. 

"Boring—" he started but he was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. In fact, the sound came many times in a row. "What the fuck."

"Now, master. Your language please. Miss Forrest Fan is back. And it seems that she is… quite delighted," James said as he came to the door of the study room.

Max, Ray and Kenny all sweat dropped but Tyson was too busy munching on popcorn to notice.

"I made it! I made it! I made it! I made it! _I made it! I made ittt! I maaaaddeeeeeeee iiiit!_" a chanting voice came.

Ray peaked out the door and saw Forrest dancing in the hallways, swinging her backpack and dancing with random maids who were just passing. She certainly caught the attention of everyone but this time she didn't mind, she was too happy. She almost completely forgot about the other events that happened the same day.

"Ray!" she exclaimed as she saw the boy's head. "Guess what?"

"_I made it_," Ray repeated, imitating her voice.

"Yes, I made it!" Forrest replied taking Ray's arms and began to spin in a circle and then gave Ray a quick hug. "Today's the greatest day of my life and no one—"she eyed Kai, "is going to ruin it!"

_I didn't mean it   
When I said I didn't love you, so   
I was stupid, I was foolish   
I was lying to myself_

She whirled around in the room until she felt her head spinning.

She eyed Kai but shrugged to herself.

_Right here, cause baby   
We belong together _

_I love this song_, she thought. It was true, she truly did. She sang it whenever something of great importance happened to her. It brought both joy and sadness to her. The sadness from her mom's death and the happiness from the present. She couldn't settle between past and present; both haunted her day and night.

_When you left I lost a part of me   
It's still so hard to believe   
Come back baby, please   
Cause we belong together _

Forrest's eyes were ready to swell up with tears but she resisted.

_Who else am I gon' lean on   
When times get rough _

_No one's going to destroy my happiness today_, she thought.

_The pain reflected in this song   
It ain't even half of what   
I'm feeling inside _

She looked at Tyson, who was listening to her sing and eating popcorn. The boy didn't seem to understand her.

She looked at Kai, who tried to ignore her song, but she knew that he was listening because he would tilt his head whenever she paused.

_Who's gonna talk to me on the phone   
Till the sun comes up _

She sighed and looked over the events of that day.

_Who's gonna take your place   
There ain't nobody better   
Oh, baby baby, we belong together _

She remembered herself crying previously and told herself how foolish she was. Kai wasn't a monster.

She propped herself against the couch between Max and Ray. At last, she relaxed and closed her eyes. Unconsciously, her head was half pressing against the couch and half leaning on Ray's shoulder. Her hands were on her sides and her delicate lips curled into a mysterious smile.

But still, it was just a smile. Nothing more. Nothing less.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **That was actually a random song. It's by Mariah Carey, the title's _We Belong Together_. She was singing it. Yes, Forrest sings. 

I think that it is a known fact that Japanese pronounce the 'r' as a 'l' so yeah, just to enlighten you guys on that.

This chapter's pretty important plot-wise. R&R.


	5. Well, It's a Start

_It began with a friendly and misleading kiss._

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 5: Well, It's a Start**

**

* * *

**

"Hey Forrest."

She felt someone nudge her and she groaned. She slowly brought her hands to rub her eyes. Familiar faces came to her vision.

"Hey Forrest, you're crushing me," a voice came.

As Forrest heard the voice from her right ear, she heard something different from her left ear—a heart beating. She tilted her head but her gaze came upon a white shirt. She jumped and almost fell off the couch.

Ray grabbed her arm but it was no use.

Forrest winced and rubbed her thigh. She rolled her eyes and giggled. Ray chuckled.

"Sorry. Fell asleep," she apologized.

"It's okay," he replied with a half-grin, trying to hide his laughter.

For the first time, Forrest looked at Ray in the eyes and had the time to analyze the feelings that they showed. She saw happiness, and also a feeling of lost.

"Where is she?" she asked suddenly. The question came out of nowhere.

"Who?" he asked, confused.

Tyson, who finally finished his popcorn, glanced in their direction. Max was in Kai's seat, chatting on the computer and Kai was nowhere in sight and Kenny too was gone.

"_Her_, you know. The person who you l—" she saw Ray's face flush so she decided to stop. "Ahaha. Look at your own face, Ray Kon! It's okay, I'll stop," she said while laughing.

Ray looked away, turned his gaze to the ceiling for a few seconds and decided to redo his bandana.

"Hey, sorry. Didn't mean to embarrass you or anything," Forrest added with concern.

Ray turned his gaze back to Forrest and his grin returned.

"It's nothing," he replied.

Tyson changed the conversation and started talking about beyblading.

"Do you beyblade?" he asked the female.

Forrest blushed slightly and nodded. "For a while, yeah."

"Why don't you show us? I believe that Kai wants to get a new teammate," Max said as he walked over to the three and left the computer alone.

"Oh, no. He asked me that question before. I don't' think that he wants me in the team. I only beybladed for a year," Forest said.

"Wouldn't hurt to show us, right? We're bored anyway. And I bet Kai is outside training Dranzer. He never stops training," Tyson said as he stood up.

Forrest shrugged and got up too. She grabbed her blade from her backpack and left her backpack on the couch. By then the three boys were already in the backyard so she rushed to them and put a smile on her face.

"Told you. Kai's here," Tyson said before calling the other blue-haired boy.

Ray walked over to Kai and stood beside him.

"You should stop training. Get some entertainment. Forrest is going to show us her blade. Why don't you watch?" he asked Kai.

Kai sighed and withdrew his blade. He put Dranzer in his pockets and turned around to face Forrest. For the first time in a while, the two looked at each other in the face. Forrest felt a shudder run down her spine and Kai's brain was filled with questions.

_Why is she interested in beyblading anyway? I thought that swimming was her first priority,_ he asked himself.

They all made their way to the dish in Kai's backyard. It wasn't extravagant but very useful. The silver paint of the dish was slightly scratched off in several places but otherwise the dish was perfect and new.

With all her strength, Forrest launched her blade into the dish.

_Let's do this, Starlet!_

A black and yellow blade was launched into the dish and spun at a mighty speed.

"What elements does your bit-beast control?" Kai asked, speaking for the first time to Forrest.

"You asked me that once already. I still have to the same answer for you: it depends," Forrest replied with a rather cold voice.

"What do you mean?" Max asked before Kai could say anything.

"You'll see."

The center of the blade glowed and a star shaped beast appeared. In fact, it was a star with wings on both sides.

"What is that? That's not a bit-beast!" Tyson exclaimed, confused.

"That's a shape-shifter," came a voice. They all turned around and saw Kenny with his laptop in his arms.

"You're a genius, you know," Forrest replied.

"Thanks," Kenny replied, and smiled. "Shape-shifters are rare and they come in forms with no attack powers but when they transform they take the form of a normal bit-beast. But the disadvantage to them is that whenever they transform, use their attacks or even move in their transformed shapes the beyblader loses energy."

"Told you, you are a genius. I've been with Starlet for a while now. I'm managed to make him turn into two beasts both controlling two different elements each. The first form controlling fire and wind and the second controlling earth and thunder. But none of the attacks are very strong. The problem is that before I can battle much with Starlet, I get dizzy and I faint easily," Forrest said.

_Interesting_, Kai thought to himself.

A second blade was launched into the dish; a blue blade shinning under the sun came into sight.

"Kai?" Ray asked, confused and startled.

"Go Dranzer!" the boy yelled, ignoring the question from his teammate.

_Fine, so that's what you want, heh?_ _A battle? Well, I'll give you my best_, Forrest thought with determination. In reality, she was exhausted after the swimming tryouts, her legs and arms were sore and her head was near exploding because of the water pressure.

"Starlet!" Forrest yelled.

The black blade, which was struggling against Dranzer's attacks, shone and the bit-beast floating in the air above it metamorphosed into a horse with transparent wings and a star on the forehead.

"Thunder outrage!"

True to the name of the attack, the horse looked furious and stomped the ground making it shake slightly and then the sky turned darker and a thunder appeared. It zapped Dranzer. Starlet charged with all his force towards his enemy. His body was surrounded by electricity jolts and he pushed Kai's beyblade to the outside ring of the dish.

"Good show but there is not enough power," Kai muttered as he saw Starlet gaining on Dranzer. But he knew that Forrest didn't have enough power anyway, she was no match for him. "Go Dranzer! Gave him your final blow, show them what power means!"

The temperature around them suddenly rose and the beyblade looked like it was enflamed. The blazing phoenix appeared and charged towards Starlet. It was no use for Starlet. The horse backed itself and resisted for several seconds after giving up. Forrest didn't have enough energy to support her bit-beast; she was near collapsing on the floor. Each time Dranzer attacked Starlet, Forrest felt something burn her skin. After five attacks, Starlet turned to its original form—a star, and vanished. The black beyblade stopped spinning and just laid there while Forrest felt a huge force push against her and sent her flying in the mid-air. She landed on her back, her head hit the ground and she blacked out.

"Kai, what's wrong with you! Didn't you hear Kenny and Forrest say that she couldn't manage battle without fainting easily?" Ray told Kai with a harsh voice.

Kai gave a 'hn' and looked at the limp body. He went over to her and picked her up. He didn't dare to look at her injured body.

Ray smiled in the background, knowing that at least Kai showed his worries and minor affections for the newcomer. He turned to Max, who had a worried and confused face.

"She's going to be fine," Ray assured.

"Yeah," Max simply said.

Tyson was quite angry with Kai for starting such a fight. He frowned and glared at his team captain walking into the house. _He needs to scare everyone, does he? At least he doesn't scare me anymore_, Tyson Granger thought as he looked around the house.

She could see the last glimpses of the sun as it set down in the horizon. Her head ached so much that she collapsed backwards. She felt the velvety material around her body and sighed.

_Wait, why am I in a gown?_ she asked herself as she looked at her clothing.

She was wearing a white and clean gown that reached her knees She groaned in pain as she slowly got up. She sat up, leaning against several pillows. She saw a first aid kit and some ice packs on the table beside her. She winced.

Her fingers traced over a burn on her arm and she shuddered. Her body was aching everywhere and she had difficulties standing up. She propped herself against a chair and called for Theresa. Seconds later the older woman came rushing in with a worried face.

"Oh, miss Forrest! Don't stand up. Let me see those wounds."

"No big deal, Theresa. Just some burns, you really overreacted," Forrest said, chuckling.

"You have to be careful. What happened? I got home from a visit to the hotel and they told me that you were injured."

"It's nothing. I'll still be able to swim tomorrow, right?"

"You shouldn't."

"It's okay, Theresa. I heal fast, remember? I'll be fine and besides they're burns, not scratches, some cool water will do me some good. I'm just horribly tired. Now, did you find me a Japanese tutor?"

"I'll tutor you," came a flat voice.

Forrest recognized it and sighed.

"Hiwatari. No. You have no clue how horrible my Japanese is," she said.

"Doesn't matter," he replied as he gave her a stern look.

The girl pondered over the options that she had. _It would be awkward to have him tutor me in Japanese. I can barely stand without being scared of him now._

"You can help me with French," he offered.

"If you insist," Forrest said, glad.

Theresa quickly cleaned up the ice and her first aid kit and got out of the room quickly.

"Who changed me?" Forest asked as it suddenly hit her.

Kai looked at her quizzically and shrugged. "I did."

Forrest hid her blush miserably. She wanted to go over to him and smack the door in his face but she couldn't so she fumed. She rolled her eyes.

"You didn't apologize yet," she told him angrily.

"Why? For you being weak? Not my fault," he said like nothing happened.

Forrest drew in a big breath and blew her chaotic hair out of her eyes.

"Never mind. You're so…," but she didn't finish her sentence. She felt a big bump on her head as she ran her fingers through her messy hair. "Did I get hit?"

"You were blown backwards."

Forrest mouthed an 'oh' and sighed once more. _Like this day could get better._

Without any other words exchanged between them, Kai closed the double wooden doors with a soft _click_ and left her alone.

_Have I done something terribly wrong? But I was curious. Maybe I was harsh but she was the one who couldn't control her beast. She needs training. Maybe with more strength she'll become a capable beyblader. She won't be good as any of us but she'll be capable_, Kai thought as he went to his study room. His teammates were still there.

He entered the study room and felt very warm.

_Damn. Did James turn on the heater? It's still November. Bloody hell_, he thought as he sat down at his computer and opened several buttons of his white shirt revealing some few inches of flesh.

"So, is she any better?" Tyson asked.

Kai gave a grunt and Tyson took that as a 'yes'.

"You know. One day, you're going to get married and maybe your wife won't understand what your grunts mean," Ray commented, chuckling. Kai pretended not to hear that and yawned.

"It's late. Maybe we should leave," Kenny said.

Kai gave an annoying grunt, which meant that he wanted company. Ray just smirked and sat there, fondling with the backpack that Forrest left on the couch earlier.

"Whose is that?" Max asked curiously.

"Forrest's," the Chinese replied.

"Speaking about her, I think that she—" Max started.

"Oy, I heard my name!" Forrest exclaimed as she came down the stairs and turned to the big study room. As she was about to enter, she gave a quick glance to Kai but her glance lingered. His shirt was not fully buttoned and he looked, well, muscular and...

_Must not look, must not look. Remember, this guy's a pervert_, she thought to herself as she pretended that she was staring at the computer screen and not at Kai. After several seconds, she turned her gaze to Tyson, Max, Kenny and Ray. Fortunately she didn't blush.

"Were you talking about me?" Forrest asked as she giggled. "Oh my, that's my backpack! What are you doing with it? There are personal things in there!"

"I knew I should have opened it," Ray said, jokingly as he handed Forrest the backpack. "Doing any better?"

"Thanks for the concern, Mr. Kon. I'm fine. Just some burns. So, are you guys staying?" she asked.

"Kai's choice," Max replied as he looked at the blue-haired boy.

"Whatever," they heard Kai mumble.

"We'll stay. We have our stuff anyway," Ray offered as he turned off the TV. "You should go to sleep, Forrest, you must be exhausted. Here, I'll walk you back."

The walk back was silent and all the maids were not in sight. They were preparing dinner.

"Dinner's in forty minutes, we'll have someone bring it up to you. In the meantime, I think that you should rest. Good night," Ray said as he opened the wooden doors for Forrest.

"Thanks," she replied as she got in.

Ray was about to close the door when unconsciously he said: "You really remind me of her."

Forrest turned around and looked at him quizzically. "Of who? Oh, of _her_," she suddenly realized.

Ray nodded and Forrest noticed his eyes wander on the carpet.

"Come in," Forrest said as she gestured towards the inside of her room. "I'm bad with hospitality. Hope that you don't mind. This place isn't that clean, no offense to the maids."

Ray was still lost in thoughts as she sat down on a couch near the window. He stared out to the gardens below.

"You are so different yet the same," he started. "Her eyes are yellow-green while yours are dark green. You are both kind-hearted and shy and…" he trailed off.

Forrest sighed and went over to him.

"Hey, it's okay. It's the work of Cupid. Maybe it's love. Maybe it's lust. I know that I've felt lust before, but love is such a complicated thing. And I guess that I should be honored to remind you of someone who is takes such an important place in your heart," she said.

Ray looked at her and smiled gently. He lifted his hand and felt Forrest's pale skin with his fingertips. Forrest crouched down and took Ray's hand in hers. She placed his hands on his lap and smiled.

"Everything will be okay. She'll be back, I promise."  
"But she was a part of me. She was like the other half of my soul."

"I know, Ray. Come on."

"Aurora…"

Forrest guessed that Aurora was the girl that Ray was thinking about. _He must be lucky, to find the one soul-mate_, she thought but her thoughts were blown away as she felt something soft against her lips. She melted at the touch and sighed. She almost lost her energy to stand up and she heard a _thud_, she had dropped her backpack. She could smell him, a weak but mesmerizing scent: cinnamon. Her body was pressed against his muscular chest; she felt every heartbeat of his.

It wasn't a demanding kiss, just an innocent one. Forrest couldn't help but to feel jealous of this Aurora.

_Ray is such a nice boy. How could anyone leave him? Such compassion, such loyalty and..._ she was lost in her thoughts as she tried to feel his muscular contour.

She broke the contact after a few seconds and hugged him.

"It's okay, Ray. She'll be back and in the meantime, I'll be with you. I'll keep you safe," Forrest mumbled, her heart still beating fast.

Ray Kon stole her first-ever kiss. It wasn't passionate, but it was friendly and everything else.

The Chinese boy stared at Forrest for a while and sighed.

"I'm sorry," he said simply before he embraced her too.

_She didn't refuse me, did she? Perhaps…_, he thought before he devoured her lips with his own, but this time filled with passion.

Forrest felt a tingling sensation down in her stomach, her heart leapt and she felt like Ray and she were the only living beings on the planet. She felt his arms sneak around her waist and she moaned slightly as she kissed him back softly. Ray moved a step back and fell on the couch with Forrest on top of him. She felt him asking for entrance and she allowed it unconsciously as she tried to gain balance in her awkward position. But he didn't go any further; he just locked his lips with hers, his arms wrapped around her waist protectively. He tried to imagine Aurora in his arms, he had loved her for so long and he knew that it was love, not lust.

Ray felt his heartbeat go back to normal and he slowly pulled away from Forrest.

"Sorry, I shouldn't take advantage of you… you're still wounded and I feel so stupid, you're not her," he apologized.

Forrest shook her head and sat down correctly at the couch. "It's okay," she mumbled as she stared straight into his eyes. _Am I just a replacement then? _she asked herself.

Ray looked at her confused gaze and smiled, remembering his first kiss with Aurora. He decided to let the whole thing go. _She is my friend. I don't want to put her in a situation like this_, he told himself as he moved beside her, but not too close.

"I haven't had a snog like a long time," Ray suddenly said jokingly, grinning in his boyish ways again.

Forrest laughed out loud and almost snorted to how Ray's face turned back to his normal brilliance. His eyes not engulfed by sadness but by happiness. His face gleaming and his lips curled into a boyish grin. She elbowed him playfully.

"A _snog_? Guys. You guys are so pathetic. I never snogged anyone and that was my first kiss, silly Ray," Forrest said between several faded giggles.

"That was? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have then, but I was just kidding, you know," he said. Forrest felt the tension rise again and she sighed.

"It merely matters now. I think that I'll go back down for dinner. I feel revived," she said as she grinned.

Ray offered her his arm and led her to the dinning room without speaking. He was just glad that Forrest wasn't offended.

She was quite someone.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I changed the title of this hcpater because... well, people were just attracted to the title. 

This chapter is well. A side story, it's important but I don't like this chapter anyway.

I really don't want to turn this story into a Mary-Sue, or should I say turn Forrest into a Mary-Sue who Kai falls in love with. 'Cause from what I've seen of Beyblade, and unfortunately I haven't seen enough episodes, Kai doesn't seem like the person who would love, he might be nice to his family but no one else. Expect some changes in the later chapters.


	6. Something Sacred

_A sacrifice is a sacrifice. A gift is a gift._

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 6: Something Sacred**

**

* * *

**

He looked at her, she looked at him. And they both smiled at the same time. Maroon eyes have been staring at them. The boy frowned.

"Miss Folest Fan? There's someone here to see you," James said as he stepped into the dinning room.

Forrest sighed and wondered who it was. She frowned. _Who wants to see me?_ she asked herself

The answer came as a middle aged looking man entered the room. His hair was a medium brown and his eyes a forest green.

"David," Forrest spat.

"Now, _ma chere_. You should call me 'daddy', it's much more pleasant, isn't it?" the man replied with a French accent.(my dear)

"You have no right to disturb me right now. Go back. I live here now, there's nothing much that you can do about it."

"Oh no, don't think that you're _so_ important that I've come all the way just for you! And besides, you're fifteen, not eighteen," his tone changed as he stopped abruptly. "Oh, no, no, no! I came here on a business trip and I stopped here _on my way _to the hotel."

"The hotel's at the other side of the city, you moron, and Theresa is my guardian, you are a rejected father, David," Forrest said as she rolled her eyes and took a bite of her dinner. She was in a bad mood. Normally, she would have at least _tried _to tolerate her father.

"Now, dear. Why don't you invite your daddy to dinner with these _fine _gentlemen?"

Forrest eyed Kai and frowned. Her eyes were pleading and Kai grunted.

"You own this bloody place, Hiwatari! Will you invite this bastard or not?" Forrest roared.

Kai waved his hand meaning for James to escort the visitor out.

"Oh, dear. You escaped your fate for today. But you'll have to come back sooner or later. I deposited five thousand bucks into your account since I'm such a nice _daddy_," David said before he smirked and walked off with James.

Forrest fumed, literally, and left the dinning table with a swing. Her chair fell on the floor, she heard one of the maids scream—the chair was made of a delicate and expensive wood—but she cared less.

_I wish that he could just go to hell. _

She slammed her door behind her and collapsed on the bed. Sleep took her instantly.

* * *

The young green-eyed girl woke up with a terrible headache. 

_Aspirin.__Tylenol. Anything! s_he thought as she panted. _Oh right. I'm not in America. I'll just go for a walk_.

She wandered about her eventful day as she left her room wearing her usual clothes. She didn't care about what she was doing right then. She just wanted to find a way to avoid her father _forever_.

_That bastard._ _Marrying that bimbo after my mom left. How dare he!_

She turned around the corner and glided down the stairs. It felt misty around her and she wasn't sure of the time or where she was going. She was just following her instincts, and they lead her outside, to the beyblading dish.

There she saw her blade, still lying there immobile. She sighed.

"I'm so sorry, Starlet," she said as she picked her beyblade and held it in her hands. She fondled with her pockets and found the launcher. "Let's go for a spin, shall we? Just to clear my mind. It'll help you too."

Starlet obeyed and immediately appeared. The star shaped bit-beast turned into a winged lion. He batted his wings and gave a worried gaze towards his mistress.

"I'm fine. Keep on spinning. We both have to improve our strengths. I'm so sorry that I'm so weak."

_It is not your fault. Time is the key._

"Thanks, Starlet."

The lion roared and Forrest felt a great wind sweeping across the yard. She smiled.

"Good job. Now fire."

The lion shot fire upwards into the sky. Forrest observed the attack and was proud. The fire slowly disappeared leaving some sparks behind, and for several seconds it looked like the bit-beast was playing with fireworks. Once again flame was shot into the sky, it illuminated her face and her happy smile lingered.

Suddenly, she felt a velvety material draped around her.

"Thanks, Kai," she mumbled as she yawned. "Good job, Starlet. Come on, it's late. You should rest too."

The bit-beast did as he was told and disappeared from sight. Forrest bent down and took her beyblade with a swing of her arm. She gracefully turned around and saw the blue-haired boy.

She gave a weak but sincere smile.

"Thanks," she said as her cheeks gave a faint blush because of the chilly air.

"Go sleep," he replied, his voice plain and flat like usual.

"You shouldn't care. You never care."

The boy looked away and sat down a rock. Forrest took a seat on the ground beside him and sighed. The ground underneath felt cold and hard.

"Aren't the stars beautiful?" she asked dreamily. She wasn't sure what to say. For her reply, Kai gave a 'mmhmmm'. "You know. I owe you one for today. I'm in debt, really. Thank you."

Kai simply nodded and looked at her. He stared at her green eyes. Forrest wasn't a pretty girl, many people that he knew could beat her looks, but he could see that her heart was purer than anyone else's—at least anyone that he knew.

"When do you want to start your lessons?"

Forrest blinked and tilted her head. "What? Oh. Japanese lessons? Drop it. Then I owe you too much."

Kai grunted.

"I don't know why I'm so nice to you," he admitted out loud. "But, no. You need your lessons and I need help with French. The only thing that you owe me is a friendship."

She was quite surprised at his words. _A friendship?_ _That's an easy thing for me to give him. At least, it should be easy. It must sacred, since it's coming from the heartless Kai_.

She stood up and gave him a quick but friendly hug.

"But that doesn't mean that I'll talk to you, hug you or anything else," he spat.

_Back with his angry voice, huh?_ Forrest grinned. She cared less. With Kai, even to have a friendship was a rare thing and Forrest knew that.

She grinned in the darkness and offered her hand but Kai didn't take it. She shrugged to herself and walked back with Starlet in her pockets and a wonderful feeling swept over her.

"So, what's the name of your girlfriend?" she asked casually.

"Felicia."

"Interesting… for how long?"

Kai grunted.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. No more personal questions."

"Two months."

"Wow! Really? I thought that you were a one-night stand guy!" she exclaimed, teasingly.

Kai gave an angry 'hn' and kept walking.

"You wouldn't be single anyway,."

"Why?"

"'Cause. I have instincts. And come on. There are many girls who stare at you in the hallways dreamily. 'Oh my God, Kai is so hot!'" she said, imitating a high pitched voice.

Kai snorted and looked at her.

"Do you…"

"What?"

"Do you think that I'm hot?" he asked, pocking an eyebrow.

Forrest almost fell on the floor laughing but she covered her mouth. It was late and she didn't want to wake anyone up.

"It's okay, buddy. It's okay," she said as she patted Kai's back.

They both walked up the stairs, Forrest trailing after Kai. She hid her blush as she looked up and saw Kai's form as she mounted the stairs. They arrived at the door of Kai's room.

"Do you really want to know? Well. I'll give you credit for this. You are good looking. But you're also a mean and cold bastard," she said as she turned away.

Kai smirked in the dark and saw her cheeks flushing a tomato red. He laughed inside.

_Maybe she is like other girls. Maybe not. But I know that we'll be friends. Maybe my parents were right about renting the room away_, he thought as he closed the door behind him and fell back on his bed. _But then again, she is like all other girls. They all have a thirst for richness and for fame._

* * *

The morning came. The air felt refreshing; it had a smell of cinnamon. The smell caught Forrest's nose so she woke up with a start. She looked around and saw a head of black hair. 

"R-Ray Kon?"

An annoyed groan came out of his throat when he felt someone tap him.

"Wake up, Ray Kon," she said between two yawns, "how did you get here?"

He shrugged and yawned. Forrest could see two pointy teeth and she shuddered. _Sometime I wonder if he is a tiger_, she thought.

"Your couch is very comfortable," he commented. "The guest rooms have awfully hard beds."

"But that gives you no right to come here, does it?" she asked.

He groaned and left the room silently.

"Your door was open," he mumbled as he closed the double doors behind him.

Forrest sighed and dressed herself. She wore her swimsuit underneath her uniforms because she had practice that morning so she packed her swimming bag with extra garments. She ran down the stairs with her swimming bag and backpack and grabbed a toast from Theresa's bowl (her assistant was eating at the table) and skidded down the street several blocks to arrive at school.

She arrived at the pool two minutes late and took off her uniform in front of her teammates.

_There's nothing wrong with that… I have my swimsuit inside,_ she told herself but apparently she was wrong because she heard some chuckles and silly whistling sounds coming from the boys' swim team and water polo team. She shot them a menacing glare and packed her clothes silently.

She bowed to her coach in apology and mumbled 'gomen' about twenty times before jumping into the big outdoor pool. The water relaxed her muscles but she felt a chilly air. She felt goose bumps on her skin and she moved around to raise her body temperature. Suddenly she heard a whistle blow and she saw splashes of water. The other girls kicked off and began swimming the length of the pool in extreme speed. It didn't take her long to kick off too, her slender legs pushed against the wall and she launched herself in the water.

As she arrived at the other side of the pool, she was surprised that she came fourteenth in the team out of thirty-two people because they all had a head start. She looked at the girl who was beside her.

The girl looked older than her. _Perhaps a junior_, she thought. The girl's hair was masked by a swimming cap but Forrest could see blue locks coming out.

"Hi," Forrest greeted the girl, waiting for the other teammates to swim to their side.

"You hang out with the Bladebreakers, don't you?" the other girl asked, simply.

"I guess you could say that. What's your name?" Forrest asked.

"Felicia," the girl replied.

_Kai's girlfriend_, she thought as she looked at the coach as he gave an attention-catching cough like the day before.

"I want you to swim to the other side and come back with your quickest stroke. First three people back will get to leave five minutes earlier," the coach said in Japanese.

She took several seconds to register the Japanese words in her mind. It was still hard for her to understand people speaking so fast.

Forrest was prepared this time. _I need that five minutes free of swimming, I'm exhausted_, she thought as her fingertips traced a burn on her arm. _And I need to pick up my new schedule._

The sound of the whistle shot through the air and Forrest once again launched herself in the water. She looked around her and was glad that no one was in front, she was first but her confidence flew away when she saw four girls come head in head with her. She kicked and encouraged herself to keep going.

_Come on. Breathe less, swim more_, she told herself. She passed one girl in a dark blue swimsuit

It was more difficult to pass the other girls because all of them had mighty strength and swam like there was no tomorrow. Forrest's legs gave up but her brain did not. She struggled to swim with tired legs and unwilling arms. But as she saw the girl with the dark blue swimsuit pass her, she gave one more quick and touched the wall. She wasn't sure if she came before that girl or not but she cared less.

_At least I don't feel like a loser_, she thought to herself. Her head was out of the water and she saw who arrived firsts at the wall, to her left there was a girl with a black and red swimsuit with a matching cap who stared the ceiling while unconsciously grinning. The girl beside her had a white and blue tankini also wearing a small smile on her face. Then to her right was the girl in the dark blue swimsuit, the girl looked no older than 14 and she had brilliant silver eyes. The last girl was Felicia, who was smirking proudly.

_I guess that she was first_, Forrest thought as she sighed. _Of course._ _I feel like a failure once again. I'll be late for class again. This year didn't start well for me._

The swimming practice went on and they had some few relay races. Forrest was in a group with three girls whose names were Gloria, Izuki, and Amira. Forrest and Amira were the faster swimmers of the group—Amira finished sixth in the race—while Gloria and Izuki struggled but nevertheless they were all good swimmers.

_At least I have good teammates_, she thought.

The coach explained that he had analyzed everyone's times and grouped them so that each group would have all kinds of swimmers, slow ones, fast ones, the ones with good technique and etc. The coach also explained that they had to work together in the relay, deciding who will swim first, second, third and last because at the end only two relay teams will represent the school in relay races. Forrest grinned.

_We'll start working our butts off right now_, she told herself. _There is no way that we can't make into the best two groups._

She looked around and saw Felicia's team struggling, she grinned mischievously. Forrest and Felicia didn't exactly start on good terms but surely inside the pool they certainly were enemies. Felicia's team consisted of her—the best swimmer, Shizu—the slowest swimmer, the girl with the dark blue swimsuit and a slower girl with a hot pink swimsuit who seemed to stick up to Felicia.

Forrest grunted and turned her attention back to her group. She managed to help around with the bad Japanese she learned but they still shared sign language and Forrest was glad to demonstrate some tactics to her teammates.

By the end of the practice, Forrest's team managed to tie in third with another team.

_With more effort, we'll get into the competition for sure_, she said believing in her team members as she changed back to her school clothes.

The bell rang, signaling that it was 8:10.

_Crap five more minutes! _Forrest told herself as she ran to the office almost tripping three times. Several teachers yelled at her for running in the hallway but Forrest stopped running for two seconds and disappeared into the crowds of people. Finally, she squished her way to the office and came panting to the secretary. Luckily for her, there was no one waiting in line.

"Schedule," she said still panting.

The secretary nodded and Forrest saw the woman's thin and slender fingers search through the pile of papers that she had on her table. Finally the secretary handed her the schedule and Forrest dashed off after saying a quick thanks. She didn't have time to look at her schedule yet but she was quite sure that she still had Japanese at the same time because there weren't many second language students in the school anyway.

She dashed up the stairs and just as she reached the last step, the bell rang. Her heart sank. She sighed and swung open the door of the classroom. She was… exactly sixteen seconds late.

Miss Akiyo looked furious and Forrest mumbled several apologies before going to her seat beside Janet.

"Great entrance," Janet said sarcastically. "You're messed up. There's water dripping from your hair," she said as-matter-of-factly.

Forrest sighed and yawned.

"I don't care. I'm too tired to care right now. I hope that she won't notice if I doze off in class. I assure you that I will so wake me up, okay? Thanks," Forrest replied before giving a yawn that she tried to hide from Miss Akiyo's sharp eyes.

"Hey… you live with Kai don't you? I heard that…" Janet had a dreamy look on her face.

But Forrest fell asleep. Five minutes later Forrest felt someone tap on her shoulder and she groaned.

"Come on. She's coming," Janet muttered under her breath. Forrest heard the girl so she lifted her head a little bit so it looked like she was reading something on her table.

"Miss Laura Fan. Now, there is no need to sleep in my class," Miss Akiyo paused.

_Oh God, they give you detentions here? Please no, please no_, Forrest thought as she refused to look up.

"Detention, for a week, you'll clean the room everyday," the blonde teacher spat harshly as she walked away.

The class gave a 'oooooooh' but stopped as soon as they saw Miss Akiyo's death glare.

Forrest practically wanted to kill Miss Akiyo right there on the spot.

_I never, never, got a detention before._ _How dare she! And cleaning? Why can't I just write lines? Stupid Japan._

Janet could hear Forrest's heavy breathing and she could see her sweat gliding down her seat-partner's face.

"Hey, it's okay. I got detention for a month from her. Don't worry. It's not like people care. Akiyo-sama has been very emotional lately and…" Janet's voice trailed off as Miss Akiyo started lecturing in her piercing voice again.

* * *

She stormed out of the Japanese class as soon as she waved goodbye to Janet. She rolled her eyes to herself and stomped down the stairs to arrive at French class. Her face was red from anger but her eyes were still full of tiredness and boredom. As she entered her second period she drew in a big breath and tried to calm down. The sight of the Bladebreakers helped a little. 

"Hey," she called as she made her way in the back of the room.

She sat down at the same spot yesterday but this time she moved her desk a little bit back so that she was closer to Ray than Max.

"Didn't see you in the morning," Max mumbled as he looked at Forrest.

"Swim practice," she said simply. She turned her head around and looked at Ray. The Chinese boy gave her a quick wink and turned to talk to Kai. The bell rang and Forrest could hear the class starting their usual French conversations about nothing in particular.

"Miss Akiyo is such a bitch," Forrest groaned as she joined into the conversation with the boys. Forrest finally had the time to take out the folded piece of paper—her schedule— from her backpack. She scanned and sighed.

"Quelqu'un a musique?" she asked casually. (Someone has music?)

Ray nodded and Max did too.

"Violin," Ray said.

"Clarinet," Max piped. "You?"

"I want to try harp or cello. I doubt that they have a harp," Forrest replied shrugging.

"Actually, they do. But no one has ever tried that in years since the last couple of harp players of the group died in a tragic accident. People think that it's cursed," Max explained.

Forrest rolled her eyes.

"Stupid superstitions. I don't care, I think that I'm going for it. Harp sounds interesting," she said confidently.

"But you know, there's always choral, which is music too," Max said.

"Oh right. Never mind the harp then," Forrest mumbled, quickly changing her mind.

Ray smiled widely and started talking to Forrest about music. In between the conversation, Forrest stole some glances from the distant Kai who was sitting there and falling asleep. She couldn't help but to smirk.

French class ended with a project that Mr. LeBoeuf presented to them. They had to do a research on a French speaking region in the world and they were in group of threes. Ray was put in a group with Tyson and a girl with violet hair whose name Forrest did not know and Max was put with two girls. Kai was placed with Forrest and a guy named Oliver DuBois, whom Kai sort of knew.

"Bonjour," Oliver said with a perfect French accent. (Hello)

"Salut!" Forrest said, grinning. (Hi!)

Kai gave an acknowledging glance and nodded. Oliver kept smiling.

"Which country or region do you want to work on? I want to work on some place in Europe; I lived there for my whole life. I just moved here, by the way, several months ago," the French boy said.

Forrest and Kai both gave a nod which meant that they approved of the idea.

"We can't do France obviously," the boy continued. Forrest gave a nod while Kai just looked away.

"What about Switzerland. It's a nice little country, and they speak French there," Forrest suggested.

Oliver gave a 'mmhmmm' and shrugged a little.

"Or Belgium. I think that it would be better, Belgium has a French population and it's a bigger country than Switzerland, it should be easier to research on," Oliver said.

Forrest agreed and Kai gave a grunt. Oliver went in front of the class to give Mr. LeBoeuf their choice of country. Forrest caught her opportunity to glance at Ray working with Tyson and the girl with violet hair.

The class ended and everyone got out of the room. Ray caught Forrest and gave her a quick warm glance. Forrest blushed slightly and made her way to calculus. Her schedule stayed the same except that she had calculus third period and music last. She made her way to room 215 and opened the door to see the same teacher as she had fifth period yesterday.

"My schedule changed," she said to the teacher. The teacher nodded and indicated her to sit in an empty seat in the fourth row.

Just as Forrest sat down at the spot, she saw a person barge in the room. It was Kai Hiwatari. Forrest's thoughts lingered on the events that happened exactly 24 hours before and shuddered.

_He can change so much_, she thought as she took out her notebook.

"Mr. Hiwatari! You skipped class yesterday and now you're late!" the teacher barked furiously. Kai gave an annoyed 'hn' and walked to the seat beside Forrest.

"What are you doing here?" Forrest asked.

"I sit here," he spat coldly. Forrest was taken back by the tone of his voice. She looked away.

After the class started for several minutes, Forrest brought the courage to give a glance to Kai. She noticed some smudged pink-red marks that were faded near his mouth and she rolled her eyes.

_He always meets with his girlfriend before third period, heh?_ she told herself. _That pervert, all he thinks about is making out… and beyblading. _

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Okay. Kai does seem like the person who likes _snogging_ but he's not a player. I don't see him as a player. But since I kind of write from Forrest's perspective, you'll have to see it from her eyes… most of the time. Anyway, remember to R&R:)  



	7. The TV

_Such a beautiful disaster._

_Kelly Clarkson_

* * *

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 7: The TV**

**

* * *

**

There was a short knock on the door and Forrest looked at the person who just entered. She did not recognize him. She didn't care; she was bored out of her mind.

_This must be the first bad math teacher that I've got in my whole entire life_, she thought as she yawned.

The boy who just entered had red hair; its shade was a bit close to orange but nevertheless it was red and it looked fake to Forrest Fan. His eyes were aqua marine and were a little less dull than Kai's. Forrest could stare at those orbs feeling like she was at the ocean staring into the horizon. Then she snapped out of her thoughts and she groaned and looked at Kai. The two-toned haired boy was smirking, she wondered why.

She turned her gaze to the newcomer and sighed.

"Hello," the red head said. "I'm a new student. I'm late because I had to take care of some things with the principal."

His tone was cold and harsh, similar to Kai's and Forrest noticed that he had an accent close to Kai's too.

"Mr. Valkov. Please sit beside Kai Hiwatari," the teacher said.

Valkov immediately made his way to Kai.

_So they do know each other. How interesting_, Forrest thought. She tried to get a look from him but the blue-haired boy was still half-asleep and seemed to not care for the fact that Tala Valkov just came into his class. But to Forrest's surprise, Kai gave a wave and greeted the boy.

"Tala," he said as he gave a quick yawn.

"Kai," Tala acknowledged, smirking.

Forrest could see a horrible resemblance between the two. Both of them were cold, distant and they both had very eye-catching hair color. Forrest rolled her eyes at the thought.

_I'll dye my hair neon yellow_, she told herself.

Tala didn't give Forrest any particular looks, he only scanned the room and he observed everyone in the class for a few seconds and then he shrugged to himself.

_Boring day ahead of me._ _With the Demolition Boys gone, I wonder what will happen next_, _Biovolt__will need a new team. And I got to talk to Kai_, the red-head thought as he looked at the board and pretended to be listening. _I don't even know how I got in calculus anyway. _

* * *

By the end of the period, Kai and Tala were exchanging many comments between each other; Forrest has never seen Kai talk so much, not even with Ray. 

_Maybe they know each very well_, she told herself as she shrugged. She followed the two several meters from behind and made her way to the backyard of the school where the Bladebreakers and co. ate. As she arrived at the spot, Kai, Tala and everyone else were already there.

"Wasn't she in our calculus class, Kai?" Tala asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure I was. Mr. Scared-To-Talk-To-A-Girl," Forrest said coolly as she took a seat beside Ray.

"I would like your personality if you were a guy. But you're a female, you're supposed to be all nice and graceful," the red head mocked, doing a little graceful and dramatic gesture.

"Then I'm not your ordinary female," Forrest replied and shrugged. "For your information, if you haven't looked around already, I'm the only girl in this group."

"That's because you're too thick to see how handsome we are," Tala mocked.

Forrest notice his dimple when he grinned, she rolled her eyes and decided to end the conversation.

"Hey, Forrest. Emily and I are going to the movies today, do you want to come?" Max asked casually, coming to the rescue. "Tyson's busy and Ray wanted to bring you along. I'm pretty sure that Kai and Tala will be there too."

Forrest frowned. _How come everyone knows this Tala and not me?_ She thought for a while and the picture of Tala's face lingered in her brain. Then it hit her. _Ah, Russian boy. How could I forget all those pictures of him on the beyblade magazines? And yes… Valkov. I know that name. _Forrest chuckled and smiled to Max.

"Sure, I don't mind. I just hope that I sit away from that prick," she whispered to him. Max grinned and hid his chuckle away from the newly arrived Russian.

"So did you meet any girl friends?" Ray teased.

"Nice one. Well, sort of. There's Janet, but I already told you about her. She's cool. And there's several girls in the swim team who are very nice but others are just plain bitchy," Forrest replied. She noticed Kai glare at her, he was pretty sure that she was directing the word 'bitchy' to Felicia, his long-term girlfriend.

"Do you want to meet someone that I know?" the Chinese boy asked.

Forrest shrugged and munched on her sandwich. She would like a new friend but she didn't care if she didn't either. Ray stood up and grabbed his cell phone. He opened it and made a call.

"She's here," he said, smiling.

"What's her name?"

"Mariah Low."

A pink spot was spotted and Forrest noticed it approaching. By the name the person was close enough Forrest could see a girl with pink hair, pink shoes, pink mascara, pink lips, pink hair band and basically everything else that wasn't uniform was pink, even her skin looked pink, but then Forrest thought that she was just imagining it. She sweat dropped. Mariah approached more and she had a faint preppy smile on her face.

"Hey," Mariah called. "Where's the girl who needs a make-over?"

Forrest heard that and slapped Ray on the head.

"Gee, thanks," she mumbled.

While Ray started laughing, he pointed to Forrest and Mariah frowned.

"Well, she needs a make-over alright. What's your name?"

"Forrest Fan."

"Oh, the new girl who lives at Hiwatari's?"

Forrest nodded. _How did everyone know that?_ She mentally reminded herself to check that later.

"Well, Forrest Fan. You found the right person to give you a make-over," she winked, "I know where Hiwatari lives. Expect me there thirty minutes after school. Talk to ya later!"

"No wait. I can't, I have detention," Forrest said, hoping to escape the girl.

"Then I'll see you two hours after school, is that alright?"

"She'll be waiting for you," Ray replied for Forrest as he waved goodbye to Mariah and thanked her.

Before Forrest could protest, Mariah wandered off and disappeared from view. The black haired girl pouted dramatically and punched Ray several times in a row.

"You bastard," she muttered.

"What. I want my date to look beautiful—not that you already aren't," he said, shrugging.

Forrest frowned. _Since when was I his date?_ She shrugged. She didn't mind him calling her that.

"So Miss Know-It-All has a boyfriend. I'm surprised," Tala taunted. "No offense, Ray Kon, but I thought that you'd have better choices."

Forrest fumed and stood up. She walked to him and pocked an eyebrow really a high, the 'what the fuck' look was all over her face. Her lips quirked up in a sarcastic smile.

"What the fuck did you say?" she asked.

"Oooh, cussing now aren't we?"

"Tala, she has a temper," Tyson warned. Forrest shot a glare at Tyson.

"I like girls with _minor _attitude and temper, but not _her_," he said.

_I should learn how to taunt people like him_, Kai thought as he watched the scene with amusement in his eyes.

Forrest advanced one more step and she noticed how close her face was to Tala's. She sniggered. She grinned as she saw his aqua marine orbs stare deeply at her flushed face and smirking lips. She swiftly leaned away from him and gave him a swing of her arm.

_Whack!_

"That's what you get for insulting me, Tala Valkov," she spat as she made her way to her spot. But before she could sit down, she heard a chuckle.

She frowned and looked around, it was Kai. _So he knows how to chuckle_, she told herself, smirking. _Good for him and his imbecile of a friend_.

Kai was patting Tala on the back and was amused at the reaction on his Russian friend's face. _Pure bliss_, he thought as he chuckled half-heartily. He knew that he didn't laugh often, actually he never laughed fully, he only sniggered or gave chuckles but this time, he couldn't keep it in. _Priceless._ _I wish I had a camera._

Tala, who was still surprised, frowned and rolled his eyes. He traced his fingertips over the small area and Forrest's fist came in contact with his cheek. He chuckled with Kai.

"You sure got one hella of a girlfriend. Mariah was better," Tala commented casually, not looking at Ray.

Forrest stared in amazement at Ray. _He dated Mariah too? Well, I never thought that…_her thoughts trailed off. _Can I date a player? No. No. Forrest don't think like that, he's not a player. You've seen him before with Mariah. The Asian tournament… that was a year ago. Come on. _

She looked at Ray quizzically and saw him wave his hand which meant 'drop it'. She turned away and sighed.

"Well, you know what, Valkov?" Forrest started. "You know that new club that you own?"

At the word of 'club' the Bladebreakers' heads shot up. Tala flinched.

"How do you know about that?" he asked, frowning.

"I'm one of the main entertainers there, silly," she said, giving him the most feminine giggle that she could muster.

"Entertain? Like what, stripping? No thanks. And I wonder why Chris hired you anyway," Tala sniggered.

"I auditioned. I made it fair and square. And I don't strip, you pervert, I sing."

Tala gave a funny laugh at this.

"You'll go home with a shirt full of tomatoes. You'll beg for me to fire you afterwards. Do whatever you want. But then I can't expect anything good from you, you don't even live in a house, you live in Kai's place—no offense Kai—and you're searching for job while you're in high school. That's ridiculous," he spat.

"I, unlike someone, wish to be an independent person, earning money for myself and start a new life in a new place," she said, trying to calm down.

Forrest tried to block all those nasty comments away from entering her brain but she didn't fully succeed. _That son of a bitch._ _Well we'll see, won't we? _she told herself as she stood up and practically dragged Ray away from the Bladebreakers. Ray just sighed and tried to walk along with Forrest, but it became difficult because the girl was pulling his shirt, not his arm.

After they stopped walking, Forrest just stood there, her hand still clutching on Ray's shirt. Her breathing soothed and she suddenly laughed out loud. Ray looked at her quizzically.

"They think that they can get to me. Chyeah right," she said, smirking.

Ray grinned at this.

"Well, I'm glad that the old Forrest is back," he said before giving her a quick thumb up.

"Ray?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we… going out?" she asked, not looking at him.

"I don't know," he shrugged. She blushed crimson. He poked her cheek as he chuckled.

She rolled her eyes.

Ray stole a discreet glance at his watch and gave Forrest a quick hug before he went away, leaving her standing alone in the middle of nowhere.

"Go to hell, Ray Kon!" she shouted after he left, just loud enough for him to hear.

"No, thanks!" he replied back.

Forrest swung her backpack to her shoulder and walked quietly to English class. She knew that she was a bit early but she shrugged the thought off. Only she didn't know that Tala Valkov also took Adv. English and he was in her class.

She arrived in the room and no one—except for the teacher—was there yet so she took her seat quickly and opened up her book. The first bell rang so several people came in, including Max and Emily. Forrest nodded to both of them as they sat near her. Several minutes later, the second bell rang and the teacher stood up to the board, starting the class but he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

Forrest's expression changed as soon as she saw a red head enter the room, and introducing himself as a new student from Russia. She looked away. Tala Valkov smirked as he took a seat three seats away from Forrest.

_I won't lower myself to him_, she thought as she turned to Emily and started talking to her about their trip to the movies that same day after school. _Oh yeah, and I'll have to live through a make-over. Tough._ She shrugged to herself and sighed. _Why am I taking English again?_ she asked herself as she yawned noisily and made sure that the teacher noticed. Mrs. Toada—the English teacher—fumed and ignored Forrest.

* * *

"Oy, Forrest!" Ray called as he made his way to the music room. 

Forrest brought herself to put a half-fake smile on and hugged Ray.

"So glad that you're in my class. Is the teacher nice?" she asked.

"He should be nice to you considering that you have a nice voice."

Forrest blushed. But before that she could say anything else the bell rang and she sighed. _Here goes the whole routine of introducing myself_, she thought as she went to the teacher. By that time, Forrest already memorized a cheesy speech similar to the one that she did on the day before. She couldn't really come up with anything interesting.

The disadvantage of being in music was that there were a lot of people and they would stare at you when you were presenting yourself, but the advantage was that the room was filled with noises so Forrest's speech was left unheard by the half of the class who sat in the back.

"Vocal or instrument?" the teacher asked.

Forrest thought for a few seconds. _Goodbye harp_, she thought as she chose vocal.

"Which part do you sing better? I have no time to audition you so you can choose: Soprano I, Soprano II, or Alto? I don't expect you to sing tenor or bass," the teacher said as he handed Forrest a copy of each part.

Forrest glanced at the music and sighed. It was a Japanese piece; she quickly glanced at the notes and picked the lower Soprano II part. The class was divided into two; the choral part went to a room beside the instrumental group and practiced with another teacher who played the piano. Luckily, Forrest blended in with the crowd because most of the Soprano II's were female and they all wore the same uniforms.

_This class is so dull_, she thought as she opened her mouth and pretended to sing. _I hope that the club is better. But of course, it will be. I'm going solo_. Forrest was excited.

* * *

"Forreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeest!" came a shout as the door flung open. 

The raven haired girl stopped dead, she just stepped out of her shower and she had a towel wrapped around her body. She got herself dirty during detention while trying to clean the floor so she took a shower.

"But, but," Forrest muttered.

"No. I promised Ray. I owe you a make-over," Mariah exclaimed. "Well, you'll just have to take a shower again because I'm dying your hair."

Forrest sighed. She didn't mind dying her hair, actually she's done it many times before but from the evil glint in Mariah's eyes, Forrest knew that it was a color that she didn't like.

"What color?"

"Well, lucky for you, I'm really nice so I brought two choices. Pink and blue. Which one will it be?" Mariah asked as she closed the door behind her and made herself comfortable on the couch.

Forrest rolled her eyes. She didn't even welcome the girl in her room but Mariah had already made herself at home.

"Blue for God's sake," she said. _Sorry God_.

Mariah nodded and waved for Forrest to scoot back to the bathroom. The pink-haired laughed mischievously and took a piece of cloth.

"Now. It's going to be surprise so I'll blindfold you," she said casually.

Forrest jumped and looked at Mariah as if the girl was trying to murder her.

"No. Hell no," she mumbled. But by then Mariah already tied a triple knot with the blindfold and Forrest couldn't see anything except for a thin ray of light penetrating from the thick cloth around her head.

* * *

A car honk could be heard from the neighborhood. The streets were dimly lighted around the Hiwatari mansion. 

_I can't get out. I can't get out. **I can't get out like this!**_ Forrest's brain was debating on the pros and cons of going out for the movies that night and obviously the con side was winning.

Her hair was highlighted with dark blue streaks. Luckily for her, her hair wasn't easy to dye. She was wearing a simple black tank top that had a scribbled heart on it, but she grunted because she _never_ wore tank tops. And she had a skirt, she snorted because she _hated_ skirts. _At least I'm not wearing some kind of tie_, she thought as she pictured the school uniform. _This is too tight_. She grimaced and tried to stretch the tank top. But the effort didn't show. She attempted to stretch it once more but failed. She grunted.

Mariah was gone by then so Forrest was alone in her room. She could hear the car honking and she rolled her eyes. _They'll be disappointed_, she thought as she sighed. _Pro wins_. One third of her rejoiced and the other two thirds just grunted—if that was possible. She grabbed a large jacket and zipped it up, it hid her tank top, but it could not hide the fact that she was wearing a skirt. Her outfit was quite simple but it wasn't her usual outfit because Mariah had prepared it. She was practically begging on her knees to not put it on but Mariah kept repeating that she was only doing a favor for Ray.

_Well. At least we're all going to the club and then I'll have my performing outfit on_, she thought as she sighed and thought about the schedule of the night. It was movies first then the opening of Tala's club. The red head was not going to be at the movies with them because, obviously, he would be occupied with the opening of his club, but everyone else would be there and that included Kai. _That cold hearted house-mate of mine_, Forrest thought as she slammed the door behind her and ran to the car, almost running into a maid.

She opened the door and found several pair of eyes glaring at her. She laughed nervously and sweat dropped.

"What? We only missed the previews," Forrest said, shrugging.

The others gave an annoyed expression and Forrest sighed. She got into the car and sat beside Ray. The group consisted of Forrest, Ray, Kai, Max, and Emily—Kenny didn't have interest in movies and Tyson couldn't make it. Kai sat in the front with the driver—James, Forrest and Ray were in the second row while Max and Emily were in the last row. The ride was rather silent or maybe it was because Kai put in a weird Jap Rock CD and turned it to the maximum so that other people wouldn't hear themselves talking anyway.

"Fresh air!" Max exclaimed as he got out of the black van. Emily gave a meaningful glare so he decided to shut up.

"Hurry up," Ray said as he was already at the entrance of the theater. By that time, Kai was already inside, buying the tickets.

Forrest ran to the movies theater, grabbed a ticket from Kai and then scurried into the showing room. The others followed her lead.

The movie just started. Luckily for them, the room was only half full so they had a row all for themselves to sit in. After switching seats for several times, Forrest ended being stuck between Kai—who sat at the most left end of the row—and Ray. On the other side of Ray sat Max and then Emily.

The room was dark and the only source of light was coming from the screen. The seats were squeaky and rather old but they were comfortable. The group didn't have time to buy popcorn or drinks so they just sat there, enjoying the movie—well, most of them enjoyed the movie.

Forrest took off her jacket because of the rather strong heater. _It's dark in here anyway_, she thought as she folded the jacket roughly and placed it in her laps. She looked to her left and saw Kai. She wasn't exactly sure if he was awake because he had his eyes close and seemed to not care about the movie

_I wonder where his girlfriend is_, she thought as she turned her head to Ray. The Chinese boy's golden cat eyes reflected the image of the screen but he turned his head to Forrest as he felt someone watching him.

"It looks like Mariah has done a nice job again," he said, smiling. "You look very nice."

He held her hand, unconsciously, in the darkness of the movie theater and Forrest blushed. The raven-blue haired girl—since she dyed her hair—draped her jacket over herself and turned her attention to the movie screen. It was a horror movie and Forrest smirked at it. She wasn't scared of them at all but nevertheless, Ray's hand on hers felt rather reassuring.

* * *

Screams could be heard from miles away, there was a classy entrance at Tala's club. The name was typical, The TV. Apparently it stood for the name of the owner—Tala Valkov. Forrest giggled to herself as she saw the sign of the club again. It was so cheesy. She used the back entrance, which was empty, while the main entrance for guests was packed because it was the opening night. Her heart was beating fast. 

_My first show_, she thought as she entered her dressing room. The back stage was practically deserted because everyone was helping around; it was quite busy that night. Only several singers were there. Forrest looked around and saw a girl that she recognized from school. That girl was in her music class, in fact, that girl sang Soprano II, too.

"Forrest Fan," Forrest said, offering her hand.

The girl examined Forrest closely and shook her hand. Forrest noticed that there were two wires that were from the girl's ears. Forrest's gaze followed the wires and landed on the other girl's pockets. _So she's into music. I like that_, she thought.

"Shayna Tanaka," the other girl replied.

Shayna's figure was slender; her hair was jet-black hair that reached her mid-back. Her eyes were a darker blue than those of Tala's. Forrest grinned. Shayna had her performing outfit already on; it was a black T-shirt with a black skirt that reached just pass her knees. The details were all decorated with blue material and Forrest knew that the material was luminescent because she had a similar outfit except that it was black and green. Forrest made a quick trip to the changing room and changed into her outfit. Forrest let her blue-black hair down, which was now slightly curled at the ends because of Mariah. She grabbed several green bracelets that were lying on the make-up table.

"Stage in ten minutes!" a voice came.

Forrest shuddered and looked around her. Another girl came in. The newcomer had strawberry blond hair and seemed older than Shayna and Forest.

"Chloe, cousin of Tala Valkov," the newcomer said.

Chloe was already in her performing clothes which was also black but the details were in pink. Forrest noticed that the girl had tied her hair with a glow-in-the-dark hair band and had two heavy-looking pink earrings hanging from her ears; she also had pink bracelets and anklets. _Well, she's definitely in the spirit. I only have some green fluorescent bracelets_, Forrest thought as she followed Shayna—who took her earphones off—to the stage.

A wave of applause was heard and Forrest felt her heart almost jump out. She peaked out a little bit and sighed in relief. There were only the VIP members in the room and luckily there were only about fifty of them. Forrest drew some big breaths. Shayna stepped onto the stage first, then Forrest walked awkwardly to the stage and then last Chloe made a spectacular entrance with all her fluorescent accessories. Forrest was quite glad that the light was on the audience, she could see every people clearly but she doubted that they could see them.

_So that's why we have glow-in-the-dark things. Well, least they can't see me flushed right now_, she thought as she took a big breath; she was still trembling a little bit. _I hate stage fright._

It appeared that both Forrest and Shayna were lead singers, and Chloe was more of a performer than a singer, actually she only sang a couple of verses. There was a chorus in the back of the stage near the band. They had fluorescent sticks and waved it during the performance. The show was songs requested by the VIP card holders. The first song was from the Phantom of the Opera, Forrest had some difficulties getting the high notes but luckily, she memorized the words for the song. Then they had a short break for five minutes during which time they had to learn the part of their second requested song.

Another wave of applauds was heard as Forrest and Shayna stepped on the stage—the second performance didn't need a dancer. Forrest was a bit more prepared this time, besides, she knew the song that they were singing.

The band began playing an introduction to the song but as the sounds of drums and guitars faded away, it was replaced by the soft humming of the chorus. Forrest breathed slowly and she closed her eyes. She went closer to the microphone and her melodious but shaky voice shone through the room.

_He drowns in his dreams  
An exquisite extreme I know  
He's as dumb as he seems  
And more heaven than a heart could hold  
And if I try to save him  
My whole world could cave in  
It just ain't right  
It just ain't right_

On her right, Shayna stepped to the other microphone and started her part.

_Oh when I don't know  
I don't know what he's after  
But he's so beautiful  
Such a beautiful disaster  
And if I could hold on  
Through the tears and the laughter  
Would it be beautiful?  
Or just a beautiful disaster_

Forrest noticed that Shayna's voice was slightly higher than hers but nevertheless they sounded like the same person. Behind them the chorus did a great job of finishing their verses with an echo of the same words but it could only be heard faintly so it gave an extraordinary effect.

_His magical myth  
As strong as with I believe  
A tragedy with  
More damage than a soul should see  
And do I try to change him  
So hard not to blame him  
Hold on tight  
Hold on tight_

They sang the third verse together three notes apart from each other. It was almost a perfect duet. Forrest's voice still sounded rather unsteady while Shayna's was better because she was more confident on stage.

_Oh cause I don't know  
I don't know what he's after  
But he's so beautiful  
Such a beautiful disaster  
And if I could hold on  
Through the tears and the laughter  
Would it be beautiful?  
Or just a beautiful disaster_

Forrest once again sang in her solo.

_I'm longing for love and the logical  
But he's only happy hysterical  
I'm waiting for some kind of miracle  
Waited so long  
So long_

Shayna sang with confidence and she did not miss a note or a word.

_He's soft to the touch  
But afraid at the end he breaks  
He's never enough  
And still leaves more than I can take  
Oh cause I don't know  
I don't know what he's after  
But he's so beautiful  
Such a beautiful disaster  
And if I could hold on  
Through the tears and the laughter  
Would it be beautiful?  
Or just a beautiful disaster_

The two sang in a duet.

_He's beautiful, _Shayna sang.  
_Such a beautiful disaster_, Forrest followed, letting the last word trail until the silence reigned. The sound of the chorus disappeared too and the guitarist released the note with Forrest's voice.

The spotlight landed on the stage and each of them bowed. Chloe came out too and bowed, catching most of the attention because of her well-curved feminine figure. Forrest gave a satisfied grin and smiled.

_I love my job_, she thought as she looked around. Kai had a toothpick in his mouth, he was drinking some soft drinks—or some cocktail, Forrest wasn't sure. Tala was still managing the club. Ray, who sat beside Kai, was applauding with pride. And last, Forrest's eyes wandered to the dance floor. Max and Emily just finished their dance; they were still in each other's arms. Her lips curled into a smile. She silently congratulated the two.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Go ahead, say 'aww'. Max/Emily is a cute couple, not my favorite but they're cute together. 

Oh yeah, if you guys are bored go read Beyblade parodies. You might not enjoy them like I do but I really like them now. They're hilarious, I swear. Which reminds me, I'll give Kai a break & not torture him with more OC's that run after him. (:

This chapter is very… high school life, I guess. Doesn't involve much with Beyblading. It's definitely not one of the better chapters 'cause it has lyrics at the end. Gomen. & I don't like Forrest's character in this chapter. Makes her look like a typical goth kid.


	8. Felicia and Aurora

_You're the beast. But I'm not the beauty._

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 8: Felicia and Aurora**

**

* * *

**

"I didn't do homework!" she suddenly exclaimed as she went to her friends. Her black-blue hair was messy because she just changed from her performing clothes to the outfit that Mariah prepared for her.

"Hey. It's Friday," Ray said chuckling.

Forrest blushed. _Right, I thought that it was Tuesday_, she thought as she nibbled her straw. She had an apple cider, she was too young to drink alcohol and she was sure that the others were too but only God knew what they were drinking.

"Great job, you know," Ray said, looking at her. She grinned and nodded.

"I didn't know that Tala had such a nice cousin. He's a prick but she's half angelic," she replied.

To her words, Kai gave a loud 'hn'. Forrest and Ray turned their heads.

"What? Don't tell me that you dated her too," Forrest teased.

He rolled his eyes and gave a disgusted look.

"Oh my God, you're kidding me. You and her? But she's so much older," Forrest said in disgust.

Kai simply shrugged. _She's getting the wrong idea, I never dated her, but who cares_, he thought as he avoided looks from Forrest. The green-eyed girl caught a glance of Shayna, who was previously on stage with her, and waved to the girl.

"Guys. Let me introduce you guys to Shayna Tanaka," she said as she gestured to the jet-black haired girl. "Shayna, Ray, and that's Kai."

Shayna shrugged and sat down beside Forrest with her earphones on.

"Don't you think that the music is loud enough in here?" Forrest asked, putting her hands on her ears.

"You wanna listen?" Shayna asked as she placed her earphones on Forrest's ears for a second.

Forrest jumped and looked at Shayna weirdly. The music was blasting.

"I'm surprised that you're not deaf yet."

Shayna smirked and said jockingly, "What did you say? Sorry, didn't hear you." At that Ray grinned.

"Looks like maybe you didn't need Mariah, but still. You look gorgeous, you should show off your skin a little bit more," Ray whispered to Forrest's ears. Forrest laughed slightly and gave an annoyed look to Ray. The rest of the night was passed with some rare conversations between Forrest, Shayna and Ray. Kai, who sat a few feet away from them, just stared half of the time into the crowds, the other half; he looked like he was sleeping. He didn't care. He wished that he was beyblading instead.

* * *

Forrest shivered at the cold wind that just blew, feeling goose bumps rising on her skin beneath her thin jacket. She took her keys out of her pockets and opened the door to the Hiwatari house. Kai leaned against the wall with his mouth slightly opened and his eyes closed. Forrest pulled on his arm and dragged him into the room. She was disappointed that James had to park the car and all the maids were asleep. 

She groaned and dragged the boy into the room and went for the stairs. He wasn't fat or anything but he was incredibly heavy for her to drag mainly because Kai refused to go in his room. And he mumbled a bunch of rubbish in Japanese that Forrest didn't understand. He was bugging the hell out of her.

"Fe—" he hiccoughed, "—cia."

"Fecia?" Forrest asked. "My name's Forrest, stupid jerk. How could you get yourself drink? You're not even 18 for God's sake!"

"Licia," he mumbled. Forrest could smell the alcohol in his breath and she grimaced in disgust. She hated alcohol, even more than cigarettes.

"Wait. Felicia, your girlfriend?" Forrest asked, frowning as she dragged him up the first step of the staircase.

"You're Feliciaaaa," he said before he clasped his hand on his mouth to hide a hiccough but it was no use. Forrest didn't even look at him; she just wanted to drag that Kai Hiwatari into his room so that she could sleep. Her first date with Ray wasn't like she planned because they couldn't keep a conversation running very well with the stares that some of the girls were sending the Chinese boy. And the music was too loud anyway.

Just then, Forrest felt a hard grip on her shoulder and she spun around.

"God, that hurts, you son of a—!"

She felt _so_ bad as she said those words; she could see a slight change of expression on Kai's face. "Sorry," she mumbled as she dragged him up one more step.

"I want to see Feliiiicia," he groaned, annoyed.

"Alright, alright. I am Felicia just follow me up to your room," Forrest said. _This better work._ _Ew._

Kai stood there with his head tilted and looked at Forrest. She had to admit that he still looked handsome but clueless even though he was drunk and he thought that she was his girlfriend. Kai observed Forrest for a few seconds; her hair was blue like Felicia's, she was slightly shorter than Felicia but because Forrest was standing on a staircase, she looked taller.

"Hey Felicia," Kai said, smirking slightly.

"Er, come on. One more step, lazy butt," she muttered.

She felt a hard grip on her shoulder again so she practically spun around and hissed at him but just as she spun around she tasted alcohol against her lips. She grimaced at first but with the only light that was peering through a window on the first floor, she could see Kai's eyes closed and his silver and blue hair in a messy but … in a mesmerizing way. She was awestruck, paralyzed. She wasn't relaxed either. She felt like this feeling was so natural and _desired_ and that she has waited so long for this. His lips felt softer than Ray's—if it was possible.

She blinked to herself.

_No_, she thought to herself. _It's probably the affect of the alcohol. I get drunk from drinking wine_. She had no tolerance against anything.

But his kiss was pushing for her to respond, she didn't. She just stood there, her back against the hard sides of the staircase. She groaned and confusion roamed through her brain. She was frozen at the place, her body felt numb and she could still feel the goose bumps rising on her arms and legs. She felt the bare touch of his fingers tracing over her exposed thigh. _This is going way too far._

She broke off and turned her head around, she felt like her head was going to explode with questions but she knew that Kai wasn't going to answer them. After all, he was drunk.

So she just stood there, flushed and breathless.

She hoped for some rescuer and to her delight, he came. James entered the first floor from the back door and she saw his keys glimmering in the dark.

"James! Could you carry Hiwatari to his room? Apparently he drank a bit too much," she said, panting. James walked towards the two and put his hands on Kai's shoulders.

"Leave him to me, Miss Folest. Just go to your room and have a great rest of the night. Don't expect to see Master Kai at breakfast today," he said. Forrest noticed a light hint of humor in his voice. She smiled in the dark and made her way to her room.

_That was… stupid_, she thought as she collapsed on her bed and fell asleep immediately although the confusion in her head gave her a terrible migraine.

* * *

The sun shone lazily through the velvet curtains and Forrest gave a yawn as she heard her alarm clock go off. 

"Crap. I forgot to turn it off," she groaned as she smashed the snooze button lazily with her hand. She rubbed her eyes and stretched like a cat. She eyed her clock and turned it off.

_6:30_.

Forrest looked at her horrible state in the mirror and sighed. She had slept with Mariah's outfit on and the gel that Mariah put in Forrest's hair was almost all gone. Her black-and-blue hair looked messy; most of them were uncurled while some few strands were wavy at the ends. She groaned and shrugged. Then with her instincts, she grabbed her swimming bag and decided to go for a swim. There was no use of sleeping anyway.

She opened the door to the single changing room and a face was in sight five inches from her own. She jumped and took a step back.

"Oh sorry! You scared me," Forrest said, looking at the person.

It was Kai and he looked horrible. His red-brown eyes were bloodshot and there was a dark loop hung below his eyes. But nevertheless, Forrest couldn't help but to let her eyes wander on his naked chest for a second. His only obvious muscles were at the arms, obviously from practicing beyblade launching too much. Otherwise, his abdomen was flat and untonned. She hated to admit it, but she didn't like muscular guys anyway. She rolled her eyes at herself before he noticed anything.

"You swimming?" she asked casually.

He gave half a 'hn', nodded as he made his way to the pool and dived in. He resurfaced and ran his fingers through his wet hair. His two-toned hair wasn't stuck up anymore, it was down and Forrest had to admit that he looked rather weird without the stuck-up hair. She was glad that he didn't gel his hair down normally, he would look like a slate-and-blue haired homosexual hobo.

"Good luck with that hangover," she shot as she closed the door of the changing room behind her.

She opened her bag and took off her outfit. A rustle of cloth could be heard and Forrest stepped into her swimsuit swiftly. She tied her hair in a ponytail but didn't wear a swimming cap. It was annoying to wear it. But she did take her goggles out of her bag and then she stepped out of the changing room. By then, Kai was floating on his back with his eyes closed in the middle of the pool. He looked rather relaxed for once.

She sighed and dropped her bag near the changing room and dived into the deeper end of the outdoor pool. The water was heated, luckily, and Forrest could feel its pressure against her head. She resurfaced and grabbed the edge of the pool. She readjusted her goggles and prepared into her position. Her foot touched the wall of the pool and she grabbed the wall with her left arm. She counted to three mentally and launched into the water. She swam freestyle until she saw Kai approaching, so she gave a kick with her legs and swam past him from underwater.

Kai could feel a force pass him from under so he opened one eye. _Forrest_, he figured as he went back to floating again. As he was sure that Forrest passed, he flipped around and began to swim in slow breaststrokes to the side of the pool. As he arrived at the side, he noticed that Forrest also came to the shallow end of the pool.

Forrest felt her toes touch the floor and her head popped out of the water. She took a second to catch her breath again and sighed. She leaned against the wall and looked at her feet. She noticed that she still had a bruise on her lower leg from Dranzer from two days before and she laughed at herself.

_Well, it's practically gone now_, she told herself. _I just wish that Starlet would be as strong as Dranzer. But that'll never happen because my passion for beyblade will never beat his._

"What happened…?" Kai started as he groaned. His eyes were still closed and it looked like he was thinking.

"Nothing much. You got yourself drunk. I guess that it happens often to you, heh?" Forrest said, not looking at him.

"No."

The boy gave a casual 'hn' and opened his eyes. He rubbed his forehead and sank into the water. Twenty seconds passed and Forrest was still not looking at him but she felt that something was wrong. As she turned her head to Kai, he disappeared. But there was a dark figure sinking in the pool. She shrieked and launched herself into the water and swam to Kai. She drew and big breath and sank in with him. With effort, Forrest stretched both of her arms and grabbed him forcefully.

Then with one mighty kick, they both floated to the surface

"What do you think that you're doing?" she yelled at him, angry. "**You could have just drowned**!"

"I wanted to think in quietness away from your voice," he spat between some coughs. "Why do you care!"

"Well if you don't know how to swim, then don't swim, you moron!"

"I don't need you to protect me, just get away from me, you bitch!" he hollered as he got out of the poll swiftly and walked away with fury. "And I do know how to swim!"

"But…," her voice softened as she caught her breath. "But I'll still be here, whether you want my help or not, because I promised you a friendship, Kai, and I'll keep that promise," she mumbled as she closed her eyes and floated on her back. She bit her bottom lip in perplexity.

* * *

The sun was now higher in the sky and Forrest could feel its rays shinning on her. 

_It's getting a bit too warm_, she thought as she gave one kick and let the water guide her to the side of the pool. She took her towel, wrapped it around her and went to her room with her bag hanging on her shoulder. A trail of water formed after her but this time she didn't cared. She was so tired. Closing her eyes, she made her way up the stairs; she felt like she was sleepwalking but the feeling of the soft carpet under her feet felt too real to be dreamlike.

"Ah, Miss Forrest. Breakfast is served," James called from the first floor. Forrest gave a nod and opened the wooden doors that led to her room. She strolled to the bathroom and as soon as she felt the cold tiles under her feet, she opened her eyes and gave a slow and deep sigh.

_I wonder how I'm going to keep the job if I get so tired after every performance_, she asked herself. _But it was the first night, there were lots more people and I had to help around_.

It was true. The night before, Forrest had to help the bartenders because of the amount of people who came that night. It was quite hectic but she was glad because she had fun. She knew that she had another performance on Monday and there will be a lot less people because it would be on a school and work day. The thing that she loved around weekday performances is that the singers themselves had the choice to choose their own songs rather than singing requests.

She stepped into the shower and let the scent of her shampoo relax her. She conditioned her hair and rinsed it off quickly. Her stomach grumbled so she dried herself roughly and went to breakfast. But as she was on her way to the dinning table, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her Capri's pockets. She picked it up.

"Hey, Ray. What's up?" she said after she looked at the caller ID.

"Forrest… Forrest. Guess what?" he sounded extremely happy. So happy that he was almost out of breath.

"Yes, Ray?"

"She's here! _Here_! Can you believe it? Aurora…," he said dreamily.

She frowned as she figured that that was the end for Ray and her, but she wasn't surprised either. It was so quick and memorable but she knew that it would happen.

She smiled for him; she liked Ray but not enough to grief over her lost.

"Congrats! I want to meet her now!" Forrest exclaimed happily. From what Ray described, Aurora was almost like a princess out of a fairy tale. Her name, too, was too pretty to be true.

"You got your wish granted!" the Chinese boy said.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Forrest grinned. _It must be Ray_, she thought/

She was right. The raven haired boy stepped into the mansion along with a very feminine figure. Forrest practically dashed to the entrance door and put a smile on her face.

"So honored to meet you," Forrest beamed as she saw Aurora.

It was true; Ray's girlfriend was practically like a princess. Her hair was a dark shade of honey brown and it sparkled under the sun. Her eyes were a yellow-green that was the color of fresh new grown spring leaves. Her smile was almost priceless, there were two dimples on the right side of her cheek that made her look proud and giddy. Her lips were thin and there was a thin layer of lip-gloss on it. Forrest couldn't see any other hint of make up on her face. Aurora was like a mirage.

The girl smiled kindly and nodded.

"Aurora Lyn," she said with a warm voice.

Forrest noticed that Ray's arm crept around Aurora's waist, making the brown haired girl blush slightly.

"Well, come on in! I don't think that Kai will mind anyway," Forrest said as she stepped out of the way.

The Chinese couple entered the room and a maid closed the heavy doors behind them.

"We're about to have breakfast," Forrest said as she gestured towards the dinning table. "Come on, join us," she said. She couldn't help to feel like a piece of walking meat beside Aurora. The Chinese girl was practically a gift from heaven and she was very graceful, too.

"Oh, I'm sorry. We don't want to interrupt your breakfast. We'll just wait for you here," she said politely with her Chinese accented voice.

"Don't be kidding. Kai won't mind," Forrest said as he looked at the two-toned haired boy. Kai was eating silently and pocked an eyebrow at Forrest as he heard his name.

Forrest took a seat across from Kai, Ray was beside Kai and Aurora was beside Forrest.

"Hiwatari, you either talk or get out of here. Stop playing with your food," Forrest muttered to him as she munched on a piece of buttered toast.

He scowled and got up then to Forrest's surprise; he went to her and grabbed her by the arm.

"What the hell?" she asked as she trotted behind him, wincing at his hard grip.

"They want time alone. They'll end up kissing each other and you don't want to see that," he stated.

Forrest narrowed her eyes and groaned.

"What do you mean I don't want to see that? I don't care if people snog, I've seen lots. At least Ray's not like you," she said harshly.

"… You looked hurt," he said casually as he opened the door to the study room and released her arm. "I need help on French."

Forrest nodded at once and made her way in the room.

"Yes?" she asked as she kicked a chair to the desk.

"Proofread that; it's my part of the project," he said. Forrest was actually quite taken back by that. She had completely forgotten about the project and she hasn't done anything yet.

"Right. So you owe me a Japanese lesson."

Kai gave a groan and nodded. Then he turned his attention to the computer screen as if Forrest wasn't there. The green-eyed girl checked the essay that Kai did on the social life of people from Belgium, he even included a small part of beyblade. Forrest went quickly through the essay because she knew that Oliver could correct it better, after all, he was a native French speaker while she just learned it as a second/third/forth/whatever language. She wasn't that good anyway.

"I rented a movie," he said casually, his attention still on the screen.

"Mhm. Mhm. That's wrong grammar. Yeah, change that to the imperfect tense and that… mmhmm. Wait, what?" she asked, half of her mind on the essay and half of her interested in what Kai just said.

"I rented a movie," he repeated, this time with a colder voice, clearly impatient.

"Oh. Right," and she went back to correct things.

After several minutes, Forrest finished proofreading Kai's three-page long essay and she noticed him glare at her as he saw the red marks on them.

"What? You wanted me to proofread," she said innocently.

He groaned and closed his eyes. Then he leaned back on his chair and yawned. Suddenly he grabbed a videocassette from his desk and walked to the TV. He bent down, which, _unfortunately_, gave Forrest a perfect view of his _ass_, and inserted the cassette into the VCR. Forrest strolled over to the couch and sat down. The boy leaned back and collapsed into the leather couch with the remote control in his hand. Bored, his index finger stroked over the keys softly, just like he did last night. But instead of that remote control, it was her thigh. Forrest looked away. _Oh God_.

The movie started with a slow introduction to Japanese and the narrator spoke slowly and Forrest was grateful for that. Throughout the movie, Forrest learned many things on daily life, useful phrases (even the most... interesting ones) and she often smirked at the corny parts. At the end of the short movie, which lasted half an hour, Kai closed the TV without a word and walked out of the room.

She was relieved at this because she could feel the tensions between them. At least she did. Kai didn't seem to care. Maybe he was used to this _stuff_.

* * *

During the weekend, Forrest got to know Aurora more and they became not-very-good friends. In many situations, Forrest was very different from Aurora. The Chinese girl was very conservative and talked only a lot with Ray so around Forrest, Aurora made as much noise as a fly. Forrest could only hear her saying 'uh huh' several times in a row in agreement so most of the time, their conversations were one-way. Forrest felt like she was talking to herself. 

But nevertheless, Aurora had a kind personality and was a very curious girl even though she never showed it. Aurora wasn't the smartest in any subject but if beauty was taught at school, she would be the top student in the whole school. Her smiles and warm voice even earned some less cold glares from Kai. Speaking of him, he didn't really liked Aurora because Aurora and Ray decided to stay at his place for a while, so Forrest was always either alone or with him. It's not that he minded Forrest's company, he didn't mind anyone's company but he felt awkward towards her because he knew that something happened on that Friday night. But he wasn't sure exactly what. For several times that question was in his head and for every time he just shrugged it off. He knew that she wouldn't tell him anyway.

Monday came and Forrest rushed to school again early in the morning because of swim practice—she had practices on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. This time, she was early by five minutes so she had a bit more time to get prepared. She changed in the bathroom and locked her stuff in the locker rooms. Slowly, she made her way to the pool. About three-fourths of the people arrived; the other fourth of the team was in the changing, almost done. Forrest walked to the pool, dropped her towel on the side and jumped straight in. The water felt great against her skin.

"Alright. Warm up lap, any stroke. I want you guys back here under 2 minutes and 30," the coach started as he saw that everyone arrived.

A whistle was blown and Forrest launched herself once again into the water. As she arrived finished her lap, she saw that she arrived 5th. Felicia, Kai's girlfriend with the dark blue hair, was grinning widely and Forrest stared at her from the corner of her eye.

_This is going to be a long week_, she thought as she relaxed in the warm water, letting her gaze drift to the cloudless autumn sky. A leaf fell from the air and landed near Forrest's arm, she saw it as a bad sign. It was a dead, crumbled leaf.


	9. For Better or for Worse

"A hug is worth a thousand words. A friend is worth more."  
_-Jasmine Fitzwilliam_

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 9: For Better or for Worse**

* * *

_Something was dripping. Water. No, it's not water… it's blood. _

_My blood. _

_But I don't feel pain; I feel pride inside my heart. Who is that? Silver long hair accented with icy blue streaks, and cold grey eyes. Who are you? You look so angry. Are you angry at me? I see a smile on your face but you do not look happy at all, you look deceived and so frustrated at me. What did I do?_

_I looked around and saw them, Tyson, Max, Kenny, Ray, and Kai. I wanted to scream for their help but suddenly they disappeared from view. I looked back at the lady who stood across from me, then I realized that we were separated by a dish, a beyblading dish and Starlet was there. He was with me. And there was another bitbeast, one that I did not recognize. The bitbeast was a grey-blue fox that had blood crimson eyes and his fur was stained by blood. Its fangs were long and sharp and his attacks, I assumed, consisted of ice and poison. _

_I heard her laugh. That laugh reminded me of someone else's but that was impossible. But they were very much alike, both perfect, both beautiful but they were completely different too. _

_I felt a whip strike against my back. A ripping pain, greater than anything that I've faced before. I wanted to yell out in pain but nothing came out. I felt warm virgin tears glide down my cheeks and I felt so weak, never weaker. But I wasn't going to collapse, not in front of her. No, not in front of her, I told myself. I mustn't be weak; she cannot see my weakness inside. I can fight this. She was the mistress. And I was the slave. But so what?_

_The air was chilly. And Starlet was struggling, with each movement that Starlet made, I lost energy. But still, there was a small hint of hope in my heart, I wondered why._

"_We need both fire and thunder, Starlet. Please, I have strength. I believe in you," I said, softly._

_I looked at Starlet as he sent a full blast of flame to the opponent and immediately switched to its horse form to send a big jolt of electricity. The ice that has been melted turned into water so the electricity zapped the fox beast. It moved back and I could see that it was hurt, but still its power was too much for Starlet. I felt the attacks that it sent to Starlet because I felt those icicles slash my legs and arms. I saw Starlet, in his horse form, ready to collapse. But I knew that if I didn't, he wouldn't either. I still have strength for you, Starlet. Just a little bit. We can make it through. I couldn't believe it but a smile, a true smile, appeared on my face. I could feel myself getting warmer and my heart was content. I sighed and looked at my hands covered in blood. _

_There was only one more thing that I could do… yes. One more thing. Be ready for me, Starlet. Be ready. 'Cause everything will be alright from now on. She'll trouble us no more. She'll trouble us no more. Let's go Starlet, one more shot and heaven will greet us with its kind and open arms. _

* * *

When Forrest woke up, that morning on Thursday, November 23rd she had already been in Japan for three weeks. She wasn't sure what word she could use to describe her life in Japan. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't that bad either but it was certain _different_. 

_Yes, different. And my dreams are different too_, Forrest thought as she tried to remember the dream that she just had. But she only remembered blood, grey eyes and a beyblading arena. Nothing else, nothing less. She scratched the thought out of her head and dressed in her uniforms. There were no swim practices on Thursdays so she only woke up at seven thirty.

The only person that she didn't quite get along with in the swim team was Felicia and a girl who wore a hot pink bikini. Forrest didn't know her name. Apparently Felicia was jealous that Forrest lived in the same house of her but Forrest wasn't really happy that she did. In fact, living with Kai was like living with an angry cat. The only things that Kai said were either 'hn' or 'mhmm'. If he ever talked, it was because that it was extremely important or he was bored out of his mind. In the past two weeks, Forrest got along with Janet, in her Japanese class, the Bladebreakers and Oliver in her French class, Shayna from the TV was both in her calculus and music classes so they became rather good friends inside and outside of school. At lunch, she still hung out with the Bladebreakers and sometime Shayna was around and Mariah came more often to their place because Aurora was there. Speaking of Aurora, the girl was in her music class and the dark brown haired girl sang a high soprano but nevertheless her voice was melodious. In English class, Forrest sat with Max, Emily and several others students and lastly in music, she had many friends to hang out with including Shayna, Aurora, Ray and Max.

But unfortunately she made some enemies too, like all of the people part of the _Kai fan club_. Of course, that wasn't the name of their club, they called themselves by some random acronym that Forrest would never remember. They despised her and vice-versa. One sad thing was that Forrest would always see Aurora with Ray. Everyday, Forrest started to dislike Aurora more, maybe she was jealous of her looks, maybe not. But from what she's seen, Aurora was too perfect. And she spoke to almost no one but to Ray. In music class, she often ignores Shayna and her and would stare at the instrumental group, more specifically at Ray and they would exchange gestures. It always distracted Forrest. In other words, Forrest and Aurora weren't great friends at all; in fact, Forrest knew that Aurora didn't like her. She could see the cold glances that the Chinese girl gave her. She didn't know why but nevertheless, they were nice to each other although they both knew that something was wrong.

Janet, who was in Forrest's first period—Japanese class, was a dynamic girl. They got along very well and Janet was much better than Forrest in Japanese so Forrest needed a lot of help from both Janet in class and Kai outside of class. But weirdly, Janet had a crush on Kai so Forrest often assured that Kai was a great guy and that he wasn't dating anyone, but it wasn't true, Kai was still heartless to her and he was still dating that Felicia. To see Janet smile was a pretty sight, her eyes were so innocent and her hair gave an expression that she was a fire goddess. Her almost-orange eyes always sparkled with hope.

Tala, who was a strange character for her, was still mean to Forrest but they managed to escape each other's wraths often by not talking to each other. But sometime it grew impossible because Tala came to the Hiwatari mansion often and it seems that they always ran into each other in hallways or at the club.

Otherwise, not much happened in her new school. Forrest has been trying hard to lead her relay team the way to the swimming provincial championships in spring. They worked extremely hard and it was a great sight to see Felicia argue with her teammates.

Forrest ran down the stairs after she did all her morning preparations. She took a seat in the dinning room and ate a quick breakfast and set off. James's black car was waiting for them and she could see Kai's angry face through the window. She had to admit that somehow the blue-haired boy always came earlier than her.

But by that time, Forrest knew not to interrupt him, so she ignored him throughout the whole trip. As she got out of the car, she waved goodbye to James and walked to her Japanese class.

To her happiness, Miss Akiyo's mood got better but still, her lessons were dull and boring. Since the Wednesday of the week before, they had started working on their first essay and they've been writing it over and over again, proofreading and having others edit it so many times but Forrest knew half of the class's essay by heart. That day was no different.

"Janet!" Forrest exclaimed. "Remember, today, in front of the school right after school," she said as she winked and got out of the class. During the whole Japanese class, she didn't have the chance to talk to her seat partner because they had to stay quiet for the whole time.

She made her way to French class, by then she knew the way perfectly, and entered the room. She grinned at Oliver and the Bladebreakers. That day, they had to present their project that they'd been working on for a long time. It turned out great with Oliver's great French skills. Surprisingly, Kai was a great researcher so Forrest helped him write and she did the visual part of the project. The project included a big written essay on daily life, geographic things like climate, mountains and etc., and French history of the country. The three members of the group, Kai, Oliver and Forrest each took a subject. For the presentation, they had to act out a 15-minutes long skit about daily life that included things about climates and politics of the country. Then they had to sing the national anthem, which became Forrest's job. And of course, the whole thing was in French.

The first group who went was Tyson, Ray and a girl that Forrest did not know. They did a research on Quebec, Canada because Tyson was too lazy to do anything too hard. It ended with Tyson singing the national anthem badly and everyone had a great laugh at him in the end. But still, the presentation was great. The second group consisted of three people that Forrest did not know, they did it on Cote-D'ivoire and did a not-so-bad job on it. Then the third group was Max and two girls. They did the project on Switzerland.

Then it was Forrest and her group's turn. She wasn't scared mainly because of going on stage often in her club. _This isn't different_, she told herself as she carried several props to the front of class. The skit was very well constructed, it was about a family, Kai being the brother and Forrest being the sister, having a visitor from France, Oliver, and they talked about things like daily life. It was dull but they couldn't think of anything else, Forrest had to admit that it was no better or worse than anyone else's. But at the end, Forrest was glad that she gave everyone a shock by singing the national anthem with pride and her melodious voice rang through the room. Everyone gave either a polite clap or a sincere clap meaning that they've done well.

_Oh man_, she said, sighing. _Calculus_. Forrest waved to the Bladebreakers and made her way to calculus without waiting for Kai. For she knew that Kai would either meet with Felicia or maybe Tala along the way.

* * *

The bell rang and Forrest immediately bolted out of her spot in music. She walked to Shayna and grinned. Shayna had managed to sing and listen to her loud music at the same time, which Forrest found quite amazing. Forrest had a passion of music but obviously it wasn't enough to beat Shayna's. 

"Come on! James is probably already waiting for us at the door," Forrest said as she dragged Shayna little bit. Shayna rolled her eyes and packed her music folder into her backpack, she swung it to her shoulder. Forrest noticed the iPod shuffle clipped to Shayna's skirt and she giggled slightly.

Forrest led the way to the entrance of the school where James waited for them with a black van this time. Apparently most of their group was going to the Hiwatari mansion for a quick get together. Why Thursday? Because they had a holiday on Friday so that they could sleep over. Forrest wasn't sure why but she didn't care. Having a break was fun because she knew that she had to go to the club for a long performance on Friday night.

"Sorry. Sort of late," Forrest mumbled as she got into the car with Shayna behind her. Ray, Aurora, Max, Emily and Mariah were going in Ray's car so only Shayna, Kai, Janet, Tala, Tyson, and Forrest were in the van.

James pressed on the gas pedal and set off in the semi-crowded streets to the Hiwatari place. It took about five minutes by car and they all got off. Janet was admiring the mansion while Shayna was still listening to her music.

"In, in, come on!" Forrest said happily as she turned the key and opened the double doors to the Hiwatari mansion. Several maids were lined up and greeted Forrest.

"We have a lot of food prepared, Miss Forrest," one of the maid said.

Forrest thanked them and led the way to the study room. Shayna and Janet both gave smiles as they made their way to the study room.

They heard the doorbell and rang and that was the cue that everyone arrived.

"We have about two hours until dinnertime. What do you guys want to do?" Forrest asked casually as the others, including Ray and company, arrived in the room.

The usually empty study room was now filled with 11 people.

"Spin the bottle truth or dare!" Max exclaimed, grinning childishly.

Forrest gave a roll of her eyes and looked disgusted. She looked around and saw, to her horror, everyone either nod or shrug. _Alright, we're all 15 or 16. There's nothing wrong that we can do, right?_ she asked herself.

Janet took out a water bottle from her backpack, she drank the little remainder left and placed it on the floor. Slowly, everyone came in a circle and sat around the bottle.

"I'm going first!" Mariah exclaimed as she turned the bottle.

It landed on Aurora.

"Well, truth or dare," Mariah asked.

"Dare…," Aurora said with her soft voice.

Mariah gave an evil grin. "Well, I won't make you snog Ray, of course, I don't need to dare you for that. I dare you to… get on the floor, and moan out each people's name here. Including the girls, and please make it look real," Mariah added.

Aurora gave a disgusted look to Mariah but obeyed. She laid back and Forrest had to admit that the girl started to look slutty.

"Mhm, Ray," she moaned, easily. "Tysonnn…," she closed her eyes and licked her lips.

Forrest gave a disgusted look and turned her attention to the window.

"Maax," the Chinese girl continued, around the circle of people. "Emilyy… Shayyyyna, Janet, Forreeeest. Mmhmm… Kaiiii, Talaaaaa," she paused. "Mariaaah."

Forrest turned her gaze back to the circle of people and scowled at nothing in particular. Aurora was back sitting on the carpet and several people looked at her with an amused expression while others looked at her with a disgusted one. Mariah giggled in a high pitch tone.

Aurora spun the bottle and it landed on Tala.

"Truth," Tala said, immediately.

"How many girls did you ever kiss?" she asked.

Forrest almost laughed out loud at the question. It was a lame question.

"I donno, not that many, and I don't count," he said, shrugging, his aquamarine eyes with an unenthusiastic expression.

He then spun the bottle and landed on Shayna.

"Truth or dare?" he asked. Shayna shrugged.

"Truth," she said.

"Who would you _hate_ to shag in here? Name three guys," he asked.

_Another lame questions_, Forrest thought.

"Tyson," Shayna started. "Max, Ray, Kai and you," she said.

"I said three…," Tala said, pocking an eyebrow.

Shayna shrugged. "I wouldn't kiss any of you anyway."

Shayna spun the bottle and it landed on Tyson.

"Dare," the boy said.

"Alright… lip lock with Forrest for thirty seconds," Shayna said, grinning slightly.

Immediately, both Forrest and Tyson gave a scream. "What the fuck!" Forrest hollered.

"Alright, alright. I dare you to not go to the bathroom until midnight. So watch out when you eat," the jet-black haired girl said. Forrest snorted at this. Several others chuckled.

Tyson spun the bottle and landed on Kai. Tyson gave a scared look.

"Dare," Kai said, shrugging.

"Alright, how about this. The guys will step out, you spin the bottle, and you go with that person in the closet for seven minutes of heaven—unless you're gay or something," he said. Kai gave him a glare.

Forrest gulped but she noticed that Kai shrugged a little.

He spun the bottle and it landed between Janet and Forrest. Forrest almost fainted at this. She felt goosebumps rise on her skin and she closed her eyes to soothe herself.

_This is horrible. Let Janet go_ _snog him_, she thought as she took some nervous breaths.

"Seven minutes each?" Tyson asked, innocently.

Kai practically barked at him and kept his glare on the black-blue haired boy.

"We'll vote!" Tyson exclaimed. "I go for Janet." Forrest relaxed slightly.

"Janet," Max said, shrugging. Forrest looked at Janet and noticed that Janet was blushing furiously.

"Forrest," Emily said, grinning widely. Forrest felt herself flush but covered her cheeks as she drew her knees to her chest.

"Forrest," Shayna said as she gave a laugh. "Go get him, _girl_."

Forrest glared at Shayna and tried to give her a puppy face but it didn't work because Shayna rolled her eyes.

"Kai, you get to chose or else it's going to be even," Tyson said.

_Who? Forrest looks like she is going to kill me if I choose her_, Kai thought as he gave a smirk. _I certainly don't want the rest of my life to be a living hell. _"Janet," he said, shrugging.

Janet felt her cheeks heat up terribly, she really looked like she was on fire with her flaming hair. She took the fact ath Kai chose her as a big hint and step towards her _ideal _guy.

"Forrest," Tala said, smirking, too.

"Forrest!" Mariah piped as she giggled evilly.

"Janet," Aurora said, with a rather impatient voice.

_Oh man, Ray. It's a tie, go for Janet… please. Oh please, please, please_, Forrest pleaded.

"Janet… Just kidding! God, look at your face, Forrest! Come on, go Forrest!" Ray said, chuckling. Forrest completely relaxed at first but then she glared at Ray as he finished his choice. Her eyes shot him daggers and she fumed.

"Go girl," Shayna said between laughs. Mariah got up and shoved Forrest to the small closet. Tyson did the same to Kai but the gray-and-blue haired boy walked himself to the closet while Forrest had to be pushed there.

Forrest shot some annoyed glances at the group of so-called friends and glared at them. "Please, please, please…"

Mariah shook her head and took out a lipstick.

"Just to make sure that you guys do something, you know," Mariah said as she rolled the dark pink lipstick on Forrest's lips. Forrest grimaced, she hated lipsticks but she hated more the feeling of being in a closet with Kai. Then suddenly, Mariah shoved her in and closed the door behind her.

She felt two strong arms catch her. She tensed against his body, it was to her surprise that he wasn't feeling too comfortable around her anymore.

"Look, this is disgusting. You might as well as sit there and kick the wall a little bit so that they think that we're doing something. I'll just smudge my lipstick and we can get out of here in seven minutes. Then it's revenge time," Forrest whispered, with no apparent enthusiasm. She was babbling again.

She could see him shrug in the dark. And she tensed up; the closet was used as a storage room. It was mainly filled with boxes pilled on more boxes. Forrest was sitting with her legs stretched in front of her and she could feel Kai beside her. She fondled with her pockets and took out her cell phone. After she pressed a random button, the cell phone gave some light so that Forrest could see Kai. He was looking in her direction with his captivating mahogany eyes and he looked like he was deep in thoughts.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked.

"Hn."

"You know," she picked a topic of conversation, "I was pretty scared of you Friday night, you were drunk and I had to drag you up the stairs but luckily James came," she whispered. The cell phone light faded away. "And you thought that I was Felicia. I hate you for that."

"Why?" he simply asked.

"Because you kissed me, you moron." Her voice was rather shaky. Her legs shaking, Forrest pressed her back completely against the wall, trying to get away from the boy.

"Right..." He didn't exactly believe her.

"Five and a half minutes left," Forrest mumbled.

"You guys, we don't hear anything!" Mariah exclaimed, giggling. Forrest rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Too bad!" the green-eyed girl yelled back.

Kai brushed his knees against hers and Forrest suddenly curled herself into a ball, afraid of his touch.

"You know, today's presentation was awesome," she said, in a whisper again. He shrugged. "And I have to thank you for your Japanese lessons. I'm doing much better now."

"Are you just going to keep thanking me?" Kai said, sounding annoyed.

"Oh, sorry," Forrest mumbled, hiding her embarrassment. "Right, I'll be quiet." Kai gave an annoyed sound.

Suddenly the door was opened.

"Forrest, Kai!"

Forrest squinted her eyes, it was suddenly very bright, and saw pink hair. She groaned.

"You either do something or we're going to make you kiss Kai, with tongue and all," Mariah said, "with him on top of you," she added.

Forrest sighed and shook away the perverted mental pictures.

Forrest spun her head around and looked at Kai. She took a decision.

She leaned to him and pressed her delicate lips to his _innocently_. She was so unsure but it was worth getting rid of Mariah, besides, Kai _had _kissed her before, even though he was drunk. And it wasn't like it was her first kiss either.

He responded by kissing back and pinning her to the wall. Her head collided with the wall harsh at first the feeling of his fingers running up her thigh and grabbing her shirt from behind her waist was too ... hard to resist. God, he knew where to touch, when to move, and where she was most vulnerable.

In the corner of her eyes, Forrest saw Mariah grin and close the door. "Four more minutes!" the pink haired girl said, giggling.

His strong arms were against the wall. He could feel the girl's fast heartbeat as one of his palm ran over her chest quickly. He could feel her grow excited and scared at the same time. She was still... Forrest and she lacked experience.

He stopped and caught a breath but she groaned. Of course, it urged him to continue. He gave a glance at her and smirked. _She's not a bad kisser_, he thought, _maybe that's why Ray liked her._ Her hair was messy just like she had just awakened from a rough night—he let his imagination take over and he moaned as an after-effect. _Oh God_. He let go a little of her waist and his fingers traced accidentally against her derriere. He groaned.

Forrest was confused, Kai's lips tasted like chocolate covered mints, something close to heaven. The rich taste of melting chocolate then the strong scent of mint taking over. Her knees were so weak that she practically hung on him. Her arms were around his neck and she felt his hot breath against her cheeks. She couldn't help but to give a quick moan and she was even surprised that she did that. _This is not right, if this continues, how am I going to face him afterwards?_ Her head screamed but her heart was melted by the fervent kiss. She felt his lips crash against hers again after his fingers grasped on her shirt and supported her. She felt a small pain in her chest as she felt his crash against hers. A tingling sensation ran through her body and she kissed him back willingly, tasting the chocolate flavor of his lips and smelling the refreshing mint in the air.

She gasped.

"No, Kai. Don't," Forrest mumbled against his lips, but still not letting go. But as time passed, they backed away from each other at the same time. "Sorry, I shouldn't. You're dating Felicia and she'd kill me if she—"

He stopped her with his index finger over her lips. She closed her eyes as relaxed.

"True, but let me tell you this. I've seen you. Your sad eyes, ready to cry when that girl Aurora Lyn came arm in arm with Ray. You don't deserve it. You're probably the first friend that I have, other than Tala and Ray, and you've earned my respect. You're so innocent and pure. You deserve someone. Someone better than Ray, or me, you deserve someone who will love you fully."

_But if I could have you. I certainly will take you._

Forrest was shocked at the revelation. She was truly deceived when Aurora came back, but she never thought that someone other than her knew. Even Ray didn't seem to notice much, he was too busy lip-locking Aurora most of the time. And she never knew what relationships were about. Her first one was with Ray, and well Ray just saw her as a replacement of Aurora.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Sure, friend," he said. And those words were enough for Forrest. She knew deep down inside that a friendship with Kai could be not be valued, it was priceless. For the cold heartless bastard to open up for someone like her she must have done something amazing but she didn't.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you saw me as just another guy, like a roommate. Not a handsome boy that every other girl had a crush on or a cold and evil person. You saw me as a lonely guy who needed comfort and my parents were right. I do need comfort," he paused and drew in a big breath. "I hate to admit it but all the beyblading and acting strong made me weak in side, my heart might be made of ice but there's always someone to melt it and you did. I thank you for that, for looking deep down inside of me, not just at my cover," then he smiled, he truly smiled.

And Forrest felt her heart melt too. This cold and handsome prince whom she had known for merely three weeks has offered a great and sacred friendship and she was glad. She never felt more content. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. She could fear his chest against hers once again but this time, her heart didn't beat as fast. She felt his arms around her, pulling her in a friendly hug and she hugged him back, tightly. But she loosened her hold a little before her hormones took over again.

"You don't need to thank me, Kai. I'm your friend; I'll always be here for you, no matter what. I promise."

"Hn."

Forrest sweat dropped and giggled a little bit.

"Okay, time up!" came the high-pitched voice.

Forrest immediately pulled apart from the boy and she flushed. She stepped out of the closet to meet the eyes of several amused people. Those seven minutes felt like the longest moment of her life.

"Come on, we're hungry," Tyson said as his stomach grumbled and he laughed. Ray and Max chuckled along.

The Chinese boy offered his hand to Aurora and they both were up from the carpet. Forrest's eyes did not flash with jealousy this time. Max and Emily were sitting on the couch and Shayna was beside Emily, listening to music. Janet grinned and looked a bit sad at the same time.

"But, I never got to truth or dare anyone!" Forrest exclaimed. "Not fair," she pouted childishly.

Mariah gave a quick laugh and patted on Forrest's back.

"We'll start with you next time. And I believe that you had fun," Mariah winked.

Forrest walked to her friend Janet, knowing that Janet was attacked by jealousy.

"Oh come on, girl. We didn't do anything, let's go eat dinner," Forrest said. With that, Janet's mood got slightly better and she nodded.

"Yeah," the flaming-haired girl mumbled dreamily.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Yes, I edited this chapter and added more to "the closet scene". Well, since this is rated PG-13/Teen those shouldn't be too bad.

Review!


	10. Love and Family Matters

_I can make another mistake, right?_

_Pretty please?_

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 10: Love and Family Matters**

**

* * *

**

The get-together was well planned. The food was delicious, everything was perfect except when the movie started, Forrest saw Aurora clutching on Ray the whole time. They watched a Japanese horror movie, maybe it was because that Forrest didn't understand anything that's why she wasn't scared. But still, even if she understood it, she wouldn't have clung to anyone like the way that Aurora did.

_Whore_, she thought, as she yawned. They were at the end of the movie and all the scary parts were gone, it was going to be a happy ending. But that Chinese girl still hung to her boyfriend like her life depended on it.

Aurora has been with Ray the whole time since she arrived. She hung around him so much that Forrest never had the chance to talk to him in school, or outside of school. The only class that Forrest would see Ray in without Aurora was French, but in French, he always talked with Tyson and Kai.

The credits started appearing on the screen and Kai shut down the big plasma TV. It was late enough for the sun to be completely down but neither of them wanted to sleep.

Forrest got up and stretched her legs; they felt numb so she walked around. Kai was sitting on the couch and dozing off. Ray and Aurora were sitting on the ground, their hands linked with each other. Emily had her head against Max's chest and they were talking to each other. Tala was on the couch too, beside Kai, and he was looking at nothing in particular, he looked really bored. Shayna sat beside Tala, the girl was swinging her head a little bit in the rhythm of her music. Janet sat on the ground near where Forrest was standing and she was gazing unconsciously at Kai and trying to start a conversation with Shayna. Mariah was sitting not far from Ray and Aurora and she was toying with her pink hair.

"Let's continue the game," Tyson said, as he just came in the study room from the bathroom.

"You idiot, you didn't do my dare!" Shayna shot at him as he stepped in the room.

Tyson looked terrified and he laughed nervously while sweat dropping.

"You pig, Tyson!" Forrest yelled at him.

"Come on, Forrest. It's your turn," Tyson added, changing the subject.

Everyone nodded and began to place themselves in a circle. Mariah went to the get the bottle, which was kicked into the corner, and she came back with a grin on her face.

"Okay, let's add this rule. I think that it might make it easier for most of us. If you don't want to answer a question or do a dare, you strip. And socks, watches, ties and all those little stuff don't count," she said.

"Oh God, Mariah. Who do you want to see naked?" Tala asked with a smirk.

Mariah rolled her eyes prettily.

"Right," Forrest mumbled as she spun the bottle. It landed on Mariah.

"Dare."

"I dare you to dye your hair black and wear all black tomorrow," Forrest said, grinning.

"Uh, no," the pink-haired girl mumbled as she took off her blouse and revealed a hot pink tank top that said "_We're rad, let's hug_" on it. Forrest rolled her eyes. "Don't you love it? Emily bought it for me," Mariah stuck her tongue out childishly.

Mariah spun the bottle and it landed on Emily. Emily almost shrieked and blushed.

"Truth…"  
"Was Max the first boy that you kissed? And if not, who was it?"

"Ja—Jason," Emily stuttered. "He was Michael's friend … but I never liked anyone but Max."

Max grinned and gave Emily a quick peck on the mouth. Forrest mouthed an 'aw'.

Emily spun the bottle. It landed on Shayna.

"Mhm, dare," Shayna said.

"You, Tala. Tongue. Go," Emily said, grinning. Forrest noticed Shayna flush a little as she leaned in the center of the circle, over the bottle and met Tala's lips. Forrest grimaced as a deep sound came out of the Tala's throat, obviously enjoying it.

Shayna went back to her place with a smile on her face; she smirked and spun the bottle. It landed on Ray.

"Truth," Ray said.

"How far did you go with Aurora?"

Ray's cheeks became tainted with redness as he chuckled.

"Bed," he said simply. Forrest almost wanted to puke.

_He's 16 for God's sake! And I thought that Chinese people were modest and… ewww_, she thought.

"Well, sort of. But we never, you know," he added. Forrest still felt disgusted. _Sure..._

Ray spun the bottle and it landed on Kai. Kai didn't say anything; he just took his shirt off, revealing his _fine_ chest. Janet blushed crimson and gulped.

"Gee, Kai. I didn't even say anything. Or do you just want to show off?" Ray asked, amused. Kai shrugged silently and cocked his head.

"I know what you're going to dare me to do and what questions you might ask me," the Russian boy said. Ray gave a chuckle. "And I don't want to spin the freakin' bottle."

"Why not? You get to dare someone!" Max exclaimed.

"Whatever."

Mariah immediately grabbed the bottle and spun it for him. It landed on Janet.

"Dare," Janet said, with little courage.

"Strip to a bikini," Mariah said.

Immediately, Janet looked like she was going to faint. _Oh my God, and Kai is here… I'm dead_, she thought as she gritted her teeth nervously.

"Forrest, give the poor girl a bikini, would ya?" Mariah called. Forrest pocked an eyebrow and shrugged. She quickly opened the door of the study room to run her room. As she tore apart her walk-in closet, she grabbed a tankini; she didn't own a bikini anyway.

"Aw, you could have grabbed something that showed more flesh," Mariah said, disappointed as Forrest came back. "Oh well. This will do. In the closet you go, Janet. Go change."

"Are you sure that you're not lesbo?" Shayna asked, frowning.

Mariah gave a giggle. "Are you?"

Shayna rolled her eyes and yawned. "I'll just take that as a rhetorical question."

A minute later, Janet stepped out in her school uniform and her face completely flushed.

"Um, I think that I'll just strip the top you know. You said that you could take off one piece of clothing," she said, timidly.

Mariah rolled her eyes. "Gah! Don't turn my own rules against me!"

Janet shrugged and took off her blouse, revealing the tankini top that Forrest gave her. It was a black top and it hugged Janet's feminine curves well.

"Right. I'm off to sleep," Janet said, embarrassed.

"Why?"

"Before something worse happens to me," Janet mumbled as she made her way out the door.

Forrest went outside with her and told one of the maids to show Janet the room that she'll be staying in. Then the flaming-haired girl set off.

The night ended soon. Emily had fallen asleep on Max's chest, who was also asleep, and Shayna leaned against the couch and stayed quiet. Forrest was a bit tired herself so she wished everyone good night and went away. She pushed herself up from the cozy couch and yawned unconsciously. She felt rather hazy and lightheaded because of the alcohol. _Stupid Tala, I can't take alcohol, why did he make me drink—_she suddenly pulled on her hair, trying to wait for the pain to go away and sighed. She leaned against the wall, waiting for her breathing to sooth back to normal.

As she trotted to her room slowly, she saw Kai on the way back; he just went to the restroom.

"Heyyy, I'm off t-to sleep," she paused, drawing some breaths in. "You should too… there's practically no one awake except for Tala and," she hiccoughed, "…Shayna."

She could smell the strong scent of mint around him. She wanted to kiss him right there, his lips were right there, not far away from hers, or at least it seemed like it to her. His arms were on his side and his hair was messy. He looked so… _gorgeous_.

"Kai, mhmm."

"Yes?" he asked.

"I think that I want to be more than friends… hic, with you…is that bad?" she asked innocently between some heavy breathings.

Kai looked at her in the moonlight and he sighed. She looked so innocent. Her forest green eyes sparkled with desire and Kai smirked. She leaned in to him unconsciously but he took that as a cue to lean in too. He _devoured _her lips with his. He felt her give him entrance so he accepted it. His tongue flicked against hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck. His own arms were deciding to either creep around her slender waist or not.

Then he pulled back suddenly.

"No, this is wrong," he paused as he suddenly realized that the scent of alcohol rested in her aura, "did you have any beer?" he replied flatly after he caught this breath. _I can't do this_, he thought. _This is not me._

"No, only two shots of gin."

"Go sleep." His voice wasn't caring; it was a command.

Forrest sighed, disappointed but she wouldn't let Kai see that.

"That's what I like about a guy, someone who stays loyal to his girlfriend," Forrest said, smiling before she felt another unusual sensation swept over her; it was the effects of alcohol. But Kai could see that she was slightly hurt.

"I like star gazing," he simply suggested. He wasn't sure why he said it himself, but for whatever reason it was, he decided that it was a wise decision because the hurt in her eyes vanished.

Forrest nodded and grinned, she understood what he meant. Willingly, she gave him a hug, which he didn't respond to. But he let her hug him.

"Night," Forrest whispered.

She couldn't remember how she made herself up the stairs, she felt so lost.

The girl closed the wooden doors as she stepped in her room. She walked backwards to her bed, and leaned back to fall on it. Her eyes were on the white ceiling but her mind wandered off. She wondered where Kai might lead her to, a friendship? A happy relationship? Or a load of pain? As she got up and made her way to the bathroom, she saw a white envelope on her study desk, gleaming slightly under the little ray of moonlight. She studied it curiously and opened it; after all it was addressed to her.

_Miss Forrest Fan,_

_I hope that this letter gets to you before Friday the 24th because I want to meet you on that day. You might wonder why the suddenness but I believe that you've had time to settle in, here in Japan. The address is attached to this letter at the bottom so please come and visit me on the 24th. I look forward to meet you._

_Best wishes,_

_Jacqueline Fan, your cousin_

"Holy shit! I have another cousin? Is that why I'm here?" Forrest thought out loud. Her mind was flowing with questions. _She won't make me live with her, right? I mean, I just found some great friends… Oh God, I hate my life. Why now?_

She gripped her hair with one hand and massaged her forehead with the other.

* * *

"Forrest! Oh, it's great to see you!" 

A short and skinny lady stepped to greet Forrest Fan. The woman had sparkling brown eyes and long wavy black hair that reached her mid-back.

"I assume that you're Jacqueline Fan," Forrest sat casually.

"Yes, yes! Oh look at you. You lovely child, and those captivating eyes. Come on in, come on in!"

Jacqueline led the way to a trendy apartment; it was in a building on the fifteen floor. The room was simple and was decorated with many paintings.

"I met you when you were born, I was there. And your poor mother, I feel so sorry, but look at you! You've grown into a pretty lady."

This woman that Forrest barely knew complimented her more than anyone she knew would have. Forrest observed Jacqueline closely and pondered. She could be no older than 20 but her movements were so sophisticated and mature.

"Now, I believe that your father has sent you here," Jacqueline said, as she gestured for Forrest to sit on a brown couch. "And he's quite right. I want you to meet someone whom I think that you never did. I think that you've met many of your aunts and uncles already but your grandma—on the maternal side—is here in Japan."

"Meet my grandmother? I thought that she was… dead."

Jacqueline coughed a little and an elderly woman entered. The old woman was strange; her face looked abnormal, her hair was black and was tied up in a big and complicated bun. The old lady wore a traditional kimono that looked too heavy for her. The material looked silky and was dark blue with moons and stars on it.

"Folest-chan!"

"Grandma?" Forrest blinked. Her grandma walked slowly to her and gave her a welcoming hug. "Um, it's great to see you."

"Now, unfortunately she doesn't speak English so I'll have to translate for you," Jacqueline said before she mumbled some quick words to the old lady.

Forrest was quite taken back at her grandma; the old lady looked like she went through many hardships. _World War II_, Forrest thought. _That must be it._

"Now you may not understand this but our grandmother was a very successful entertainer."

"Entertainer?" Forrest asked, confused.

"A geisha."

Forrest knew what that word meant but she was still confused. _What if she's a geisha? I don't care. Why do I have to meet her? I've never met these people before, how can I trust that they really are my relatives?_

"You know what a geisha is…" Forrest nodded. Jacqueline gave a graceful smile. "But she got married to a quite wealthy man and gave birth to your mother, my father and two other children. All of them were sent to America because grandmother wanted to give them a better future. And now, we're being reunited. The other two are already here. I can introduce you to them another day. I think that you've had enough to think about for today. Now, I believe that you work in a club named the TV."

Forrest was quite taken back by the speech. _So I'm here because my grandmother requested me. Does that mean that I'll have to go back to America? I hope not…_Forrest felt awkward at the thought, she just started to make great friends, she even found a great job. What more could be asked?

"Right," Forrest mumbled as she stood up and walked to the door. Jacqueline walked Forrest to a crowded street and called a cab for her.

"Here's my card, I think that you'll receive a call from me next week. Good day to you!"

And with that, Forrest saw Jacqueline slam the door of the taxi and the driver set off for the Hiwatari mansion.

* * *

"Hiwatari!" 

Forrest arrived at home breathless; she wasn't sure what to do. She didn't understand what the encounter meant for her.

"Mhm?"

"I met the rest of my family. My grandma is a… geisha," Forrest mumbled as she walked beside Kai.

"You ran off without leaving a note," he stated rather coldly.

"Sorry," Forrest mumbled.

"Hn…" his voice trailed off. "They're still here."

Forrest nodded and she followed him. The others were outside, eating breakfast on the grass; they all seemed to get along very well. Janet was chatting with Mariah, Ray and Aurora about something that Forrest could not hear. Tala and Tyson were in the middle of a fierce battle and Emily was leaning against Max, feeding him some grapes. Shayna was listening to her music under the shade, she looked like she was sleeping.

"Yo! Forrest!" Max exclaimed as he grinned.

"Where were you?" Shayna asked, opening her eyes.

"Family stuff. Really lame," Forrest said, as she sat down beside Shayna. Kai sat down beside Forrest.

"So what's up with Kai? He's been worried all morning," Shayna whispered to Forrest.

The green-eyed girl slapped her friend's back and gave a mischievous grin.

"I'm not sure myself but I know that we're friends," Forrest said, shrugging. "But I think that—" Forrest felt Kai's glare on her back.

Shayna took that as a cue to move into a conversation with Emily and Max to leave Forrest and Kai alone. Forrest shot Shayna a glare.

"Forrest! You never told me!" Ray suddenly exclaimed, chuckling, as he observed the girl with Kai.

"What?" Forrest asked, cocking her head.

"That you and Kai are going out!"

"They are!" Aurora, Janet and Mariah shot at the same time.

At that time, the attention of all her friends were on Kai and her, she felt her cheeks heat up and rolled her eyes.

"We're not, and I mean it. His girlfriend is Felicia," she said.

"Hn," Kai added in a furious tone. With that, most of people turned their attention to what they were doing. But Forrest knew that Janet was staring at her with a weird expression.

_This is horrible_, Forrest thought as she sighed and looked at Kai.

"Do you know a woman called Jacqueline Fan, because her business card seems to be very… extravagant and there's film rolls on there," Forrest asked casually.

"She's a pretty famous actress," Tala said, as he and Tyson sat beside Kai; they just finished their match.

"Oh, wow," Forrest was surprised. _If my cousin's an actress, then I'm nothing compared to her, I've got no talent_, she thought as she sighed. "She's my cousin."

"You don't look like her at all, except for the fact that you're both short and have black hair," Tala said, shrugging.

Forrest pocked an eyebrow at him and scowled.

Tyson was staring at the food that was several inches away from him, he had been staring at it so long that Shayna got annoyed and shoved several pieces of toast to him. He practically swallowed them whole. Everyone who saw it sweat dropped. Apparently the battle that he shared with Tala earlier on turned out to be a tie and it made him hungry with all that exercise

"So Kai, I heard that there's a new bey tournament in Japan. It's a pretty big one, most of the skilled teams are invited," Tala said casually.

"Yeah, I got a letter for that," Kai shrugged.

"I would love to join the team but I can't," the Russian redhead said.

"Too bad," Kai said. "We don't really need a new teammate though."

"Kai, do you think that I can… join the team? I'll go through the tryouts and all, you know," Forrest said with a rather shy voice. Kai tilted his head and frowned.

"Starlet isn't the stron—"

"I know but, Ray is going to China soon and you need a replacement for him," she said.

"Hn, fine," the slate haired boy said. "If something happens to you, it's not my fault."

"Thanks for the concern."

_That's right Starlet. We'll do this. We'll join the team compete. I feel like that's something that I must do_, she thought. She knew not at the time, but it was actually the dream that she had the previous night that encouraged her to join the team. It was the curiosity.

_Curiosity killed cat, Forrest Fan, it sure did._

* * *

Forrest and Shayna both changed into their performing outfits and were both ready to go on stage. It was Friday so they had to go through whatever requests people wanted and then they had free time to sing whatever they wanted, as long as it went along with the smoothing ambience. 

"What songs?" Forrest asked.

"A Moment Like This by Kelly Clarkson for you, then Chloe and I have to do a dance thing. The first one's a solo so I guess that you'll have to sing it," Shayna said, shrugging. "Seems like someone likes Kelly Clarkson."

Forrest frowned and shrugged, she didn't mind singing Kelly Clarkson or the fact that she was singing alone. She looked over the lyrics and memorized it quickly even though everyone lip synched at the club. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and she decided to step on the stage. The band was there but the chorus wasn't. The light, this time, was on the microphone and Forrest felt herself blush as she felt a bit less comfortable in her spaghetti strap black dress that reached her knees. She smiled to the crowd and started after the band played.

_What if I told you it was all meant to be?  
Would you believe me, would you agree?  
It's almost that feeling that we've met before_

She looked around and saw Kai in the crowd, sitting with his friends and girlfriend, she smiled slightly.

_Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this.  
Some people search forever for that one special kiss._

She closed her eyes and swung her head with the slow rhythm.

_Well I may be dreaming but til I awake. Can we make the dream last forever?  
And I'll cherish all the love we share for a moment like this._

_I can't believe its happening to me.  
Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this._

She let her voice trail a bit as she picked the mike from the stand and walked around a little.

Forrest paused and her voice softened a little.

_Some people wait a lifetime for a moment like this._

Applauds were heard and Forrest sighed in relief as she bit her bottom lip unconsciously. She stepped away from the spotlight and went to change. On the way there, she waved and grinned to Shayna and Chloe who were ready to step on stage. The two were dressed in their black and fluorescent outfit again which meant that they were doing disco.

"Good luck," Forrest mumbled as she closed the door behind her and quickly changed into her black outfit with the fluorescent bracelets and designs. She then walked back to the stage and watched the two dancing girls end their dance. While the audience applauded, Forrest stepped on stage and positioned herself beside a microphone.

"Lala, you guys," Chloe whispered before her sharp but sweet voice was heard in the whole room. "Next song will be Lala by Ashlee Simpson chosen by Chloe. Enjoy!"

A strong guitar started playing and Forrest could see that Chloe started swinging her strawberry blond hair around slightly.

_You can dress me up in diamonds  
You can dress me up in dirt_

Shayna started singing first and Forrest caught up with the fast and upbeat rhythm.

_You make me wanna lala in the kitchen on the floor  
You make me wanna scream_

Forrest's voice rang through the room and a grin flashed on her face. She was enjoying it.

_You can throw me like a boomerang  
I'll come back and beat you up_

Shayna sang. Forrest watched Chloe dance away, her fluorescent things flying in the air like fireflies. The blond haired Russian also added some lala's in the background as she marched with style from one end of the stage to another, Forrest was scared that the girl would fall offstage.

_I'm like an alley cat  
Drink the milk up I want more_

Forrest sang as cocked her head to look at her co-singer.

_I'll be a French maid where I meet you at the door  
You make me wanna scream_

Shayna echoed with her eyes closed.

_It's alright with you  
'Cause you hold my secrets tight_

Forrest sang more lala's as Shayna started singing her verse.

_You make me wanna scream_

The two sang one line each on the last verse and finished with the echoing lala's with Chloe. A whistling sound was heard through the VIP room and Forrest grinned unconsciously.

Forrest stepped with courage to the microphone and whispered: "For Kai." She watched the Russian's boy's head shoot up as he heard his name. She grinned at him. "A friend," she added as she noticed Felicia's scowl.

Forrest whispered the name of the song to the band, Shayna and Chloe both stepped off the stage after they heard that the song was for Kai. Forrest went to position promptly.

_I'm tuggin' at my hair  
I'm pullin' at my clothes  
I'm tryin to keep my cool_

Forrest let her feelings take over.

_I'm staring at my feet  
My cheeks are turning red  
I'm searching for the words inside my head_

_Cause I'm feeling nervous  
Tryin' to be so perfect  
Cause I know you're worth it_

_If I could say what I want to say  
I'd say I want to blow you--away  
Be with you every night  
Am I squeezing you too tight  
If I could say what I want to see  
I want to see you go down--on one knee  
Marry me today  
Guess I'm wishing my life away  
With these things I'll never say_

Her voice was a bit sad but she closed her eyes and followed the beat.

_It don't do me any good it's just a waste of time  
What use is it to you what's on my mind  
If it ain't comin out we're not going anywhere  
So why can't I just tell you that I care_

_What's wrong with my tongue  
These words keep slipping away  
I stutter I stumble like I've got nothing to say_

Forrest felt herself blush a little and didn't bother to hide it because she knew that no one could see it.

_I guess I'm wishing my life away  
With these things I'll never say_

A chord was played on the guitar and everything became quiet. Forrest heard many people clap and she grinned. She looked at Kai and he looked at her. His mahogany eyes were full of kindness, gratitude and mixed with a small hint of concern.

Shayna and Chloe stepped on the stage again and the three of them decided to do one last song. The soft music started playing and each of them stepped to a microphone. Forrest bit her bottom lip and sighed.

_I'll always remember  
this was late afternoon  
It lasted forever  
And ended so soon  
You were all by yourself  
Staring at a dark grey sky  
I was changed_

_In places no one will find  
All your feelings so deep inside  
Was there that I realized  
That forever was in your eyes  
The moment I saw you cry _

The three sang in unison.

Then each of them sang a couple of lines.

_Baby, oh no no  
forever was in your eyes  
was there that I realized  
that forever was in your eyes  
The moment I saw you cry_

The three finished the last several verses together. The audience applauded and the three of them bowed. They were done for the night. The disco lights started flashing above the dance floor and many couples or friends stepped to the center of the room, enjoying the fast music. Forrest let her gaze rest on the crowd, they all looked delighted in a way or another; each of them practically grinned up to their ears. She just wished that she was half as happy as them

Before leaving the stage, Forrest sent a glance to Kai and noticed him frown for a second. She wasn't sure if it was a good sign or a bad one.

"Even though I'm on the edge of the cliff, I won't fall, Kai Hiwatari. I can't fall; I won't survive the consequences."

* * *

"She definitely likes you," she muttered after her observance. 

"Does it matter?" he groaned as he nibbled on his straw, half listening to music playing and his girlfriend and half of him was confused. "I don't want to think about it, I already have a headache."

"I didn't know she performed here," the blue-haired girl sighed as she fingered some of her loose locks of hair. "She wasn't here last time."

"She doesn't always perform," he replied, flatly. "I don't even know why she performs, it's not like she wants the money."

Felicia gave a small and polite shrug as she rolled her eyes prettily. "Get herself known, I guess. Who knows what she thinks about. The only thing that I know about her is that she's not a bad swimmer."

"Not bad? Hn," he shifted his position. He started leaning in the seat, closer to his girlfriend. "She probably wants fame. She wanted to join the Beyblade team. I've seen her play, she's not good." The blue haired girl raised an eyebrow slightly and giggled.

"Of course she's only joining for the payback. She gets to be on TV. She's already a subject of gossip in some of the magazine because she lives with you. I don't see why you didn't let me move in with you," she complained half heartily.

"Move in?" he gave a fake chuckle. "I was supposed to get a male roommate. She's almost a guy though, she never wears anything feminine. It's rather hilarious to see, she could be considered as a boy if she cut her hair."

"We all know that, Kai," Felicia replied as she rested her head on his shoulder. She noticed him look at the performer—Forrest Fan. Jealousy wasn't part of her vocabulary; Felicia was a proud female, she worked hard to get whatever she wanted and she always succeeded. "She's not bad at singing."

He shifted his gaze back to the girl sitting beside him and gave a silent sigh. Beside him, Ray and Aurora were in some sort of conversations-between-making-out-session. It wasn't a pretty sight to watch. Max and Emily were once again swirling around on the dance floor, he couldn't understand why. He personally hated dancing; he saw it as a waste of time. Tyson was off in the non-VIP area. _Probably getting chased by Beyblading fans_, he thought as he smirked.

That night, the ambience in the VIP room was a soothing one. It was even a little bit too romantic for Kai. There were three candles on each of the round tables scattered around the room. The menu was special; they served things with rose petals sprinkled over them. He couldn't help but to smirk at the snacks that several waiters/waitresses carried around in their trays.

"Why are we even speaking about her?" he muttered with an unhappy tone.

"I don't know," Felicia grinned in the semi-darkness.

Kai pulled her in a tight embrace, followed by a long and passionate kiss. Felicia was gentle, she had always been. She was always perfect but her jealousy took over much of her brilliance away. He felt her smile against his lips so he placed a hand over hers caringly. They broke away slowly and quietly. As he scanned the room once again, he discovered Emily and Max making their way towards the table. Then he heard an interesting sound; it was Tyson yelping in pain.

"How thick are you?" came a harsh voice.

"I'm not fat!" Tyson exclaimed.

The Russian boy noticed Tyson and Forrest approach them. The girl dragged his teammate by his arm and she seemed very impatient.

"Thick means stupid. Not fat," she hissed as she propped herself against a spare chair and released his arm. "Oh yeah, Tala wants to tell you that he's busy and he'll talk to you later," she said to Kai as she turned around.

The slate haired gave a casual nod and he felt Felicia nudge him.

"Care to dance?" she asked almost with a pleading voice.

"Hn," he grumbled as he pushed himself up from his comfortable chair and reached out to grab Felicia's arm. She led him to the dance floor.

"Kai dances?" a girl chuckled as she took the Russian boy's seat.

"Hard to believe. So is Max being a good boy?" Forrest asked with a wink. Emily stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes.

"A good boy? Well he's nice, gentle, playful, caring…."

"Alright, alright," Forrest cut her off, "just because you have a date doesn't mean that you get to make me jealous!"

"Then go dance with Tyson. He's not that bad," Emily replied as she turned head around; Max arrived with two drinks that he got from the bar.

"Mineral water for the bestest girl in the world," Max chuckled as he handed his girlfriend a bottle.

Forrest grinned warmly at the sight and thought to herself. There was no pain in asking Tyson to dance anyway.

"Wanna—?" Forrest started. Immediately, Tyson's smiled reached from one ear to another as he took off his hat and put it on the table.

"Come on. I hope that you're a better dancer than one of those fans," he said.

"Hey!" Forrest exclaimed, hitting him playfully on the shoulder. "That's not nice."

As she walked to the dance floor with Tyson, she noticed Felicia in Kai's embrace. She merely smirked at the sight. Another reason to not fall for him, she thought as she brought her arms to Tyson's shoulders. The disco lights flashed around them, giving it a nice dancing ambience. From the dance floor, it seemed like the candles on the eating tables glowed like stars in the dark. She could also see glasses reflecting the flicker of light coming from the shining stars. She could hear several _clings_ before people gulped down their drinks. She even heard a "cheer" in English.

The song was a semi-slow one. Soothing and romantic but with a nice and going rhythm. But Forrest wasn't feeling romantic, and Tyson wasn't either. Forrest tried to remember what she has learned about waltzing and tried to follow some kind of pattern but apparently, Tyson wasn't following any rules; he was following his instincts. And Forrest had to admit that he was rather good.

"I didn't know that you danced!" she exclaimed as she nearly bumped into Kai as she swirled around playfully.

"I don't dance. I just listen to the music. Beyblading is like music, they both have rhythm and patterns. I can imagine Dragoon spinning in the beat," he said.

_I was so wrong_, she thought. _I was wrong about Kai and him. I should look beyond their covers_, she told herself as her gaze landed on the slate haired boy unconsciously.

His eyes were closed and his arms were wrapped around Felicia's slim waist. He didn't dance well but he found the movements consoling. He was happy enough that his girlfriend was enjoying herself.

_You can care_, Kai, his mind told him. _But you'll never love._

"I know…," he muttered to himself out loud. He noticed Felicia staring at him quizzically and he looked away. "Nothing. Let's go back."

"Sure, Kai," she replied back as her arms unwrapped from his neck and she made her way back to the table, giving Forrest a plain glance with no hints of jealousy.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **The three songs are Lala by Ashlee Simpson, Things I'll Never Say by Avril Lavigne and Cry by Mandy Moore. They're all kind of old but it kind of suited the situation. Many credits to them. I took out many parts of the lyrics cause they took too much place. Please read the 'Things I'll Never Say' one because I think that they describe Forrest pretty well. 

Btw, please review!


	11. Deeper than the Surface

_What you looked beyond the thin layer of reason recently?_

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 11: Deeper than the Surface**

**

* * *

**

Forrest groaned and sighed. She leaned against his chest and felt all warm and fuzzy inside. He didn't mind her leaning on him. Kai wasn't the greatest person to hold a conversation with but still, he showed his interest in their friendship with other ways. She was glad that she could just lean into his chest subconsciously and fall asleep in Kai's minty scent. They often went to the backyard of the Hiwatari mansion and stare at the stars without talking to each other but they knew that it was only then that they had the most fun. They star gazed.

Kai enjoyed how Forrest could be so quiet when she wanted and sometime she would ramble on forever when she was nervous. He liked it how she didn't ask him all kinds of questions, either about his life or about his beyblading career. She just told him how beautiful the stars were, how the wind feels chilly, and some other things that were meaningless. He liked her as a friend because she was so carefree, she would take all the worries off his mind for a few seconds and no one other than her could do that. And every time they stayed star gazing; he assured himself that it did not bother with his relationship with Felicia. _I only seek a friendship in her. Nothing more, nothing less_, he thought. It was true.

That night, on December the 22nd, a Thursday, they went on their tenth "meeting". It wasn't a date; it was like a relaxation time. She would lean into him and point to the constellations. Sometime she would want him to help her with beyblading, he didn't mind. Sometime he would help her with Japanese and she would tell him stories. Stories that she heard, and stories that she invented.

"Hello?" Forrest called as she answered her cell phone. Kai groaned and got up a little from his spot against the tree. His hand was on Forrest's unconsciously so he pulled it away, and he could feel her silky hair brush against his neck. She didn't notice. "Oh Jacqueline! Yes, sure. I'm free on Christmas, I'll call off my shift at the club. Alright, thanks, see you!"

"Hn?" he asked.

Forrest turned her head around and looked at him.

"Jacqueline is organizing a small get-together for the family on Christmas Eve, do you want to go?"

"Hn," he replied, which meant 'whatever, I'm free'.

She couldn't help but to flush as she leaned back against the tree, feeling him beside her. He'd been nice to her, or what could be called nice from Kai because Kai was _never _nice. She thought about him in different situations, in different relationships with him. Sometimes she found herself falling for the boy.

But she knew that he would be gone from her, he wouldn't be there to catch her. He was just a friend. She knew that so everyday, she told herself to not fall in love with this two-toned haired Russian boy, but it seemed almost impossible. With all the star gazing time, it grew impossible to just stare at his handsome face and know that he would slip away one day. She wanted to hang onto him forever and she wished that he would too. But she knew that he wouldn't, he wasn't that kind of person. And even though he was with her. She would go away one day. Japan wasn't her true home, it was just a sanctuary for a while.

But at least, they promised each other a friendship.

_That's good. We'll always be friends_, Forrest thought as she slowly got up and offered her hand to Kai. He refused it and stood up on his own.

"Kai, I need to improve my skills. I'm not asking for help or anything, I can deal it on my own. But if you want, I want to have a quick battle, you know."

Kai nodded silently and retrieved his blade from his pocket. He launched Dranzer immediately into the dish. Forrest did the same.

"You don't have to go easy on me, because in the tryouts, no one will be easy. I'll try my best," Forrest said as she gave a shy smile. "Go Starlet! Tidal wave!"

"Since when did you have water attacks?"

"Since Starlet and I worked hard day after day."

Starlet transformed into a dolphin, its new but weak form, and suddenly, a humongous wave appeared. It washed off Kai's beyblade to the side of dish but Dranzer was still strong. The phoenix's flame was less intense which meant that he was a bit weaker.

"Good try. But sometime water doesn't always exterminate the fire. Go Dranzer! Show them the power of fire!"

Starlet tried to dodge the attack but after dodging it several times, Dranzer still hit the dolphin. Forrest winced as she felt a burn on her arm but she wasn't going to let Kai know that she was hurt.

"Frozen tornado!"

A tornado appeared and it sucked in the icy water to hit its force against Dranzer. For a moment, Dranzer was immobilized and Kai felt his bitbeast lose energy. He felt a chilly air sweep pass him, but he snickered.

"Again, nice try. But not strong enough," Kai said, as Dranzer charged towards Starlet.

"No, no. Stop!"

Kai stared at Forrest and frowned. "You'll not be able to stop a battle in the tryouts."

"I know, I know but. I'm tired, Kai. Mkay? We're star gazing. Just let's chill for the rest of the night," Forrest sighed as she picked up her blade and Kai did the same. "I'm sorry that I disappointed you." She glanced at him with apologetic eyes and gave a sheepish smile.

"Don't be sorry," Kai said sincerely.

There was a moment of silence, where Forrest played with her messy hair unconsciously.

"It's late, we should go to our rooms," Forrest said as she gave him a friendly smile as she realized that she was pretty tired.

The moonlight was bright and she could see several outdoor lamps flicker. The backyard garden was home of many exotic plants that James took care of. They were beautiful and even more breathtaking at night because their scents filled the fresh air.

They walked quietly upstairs to their rooms. Forrest could feel herself exhausted as she dragged both of her legs one by one up the staircase, feeling drowsiness beginning to take over. She waved goodbye to her house-mate.

"Night."

"Hn, night."

_Forrest,_ she told herself. _Don't you dare fall for him. _She had that thought in mind for a while already. It kept coming back to her when she spoke to Kai.

_But I already did… _she sighed. _I know that I can't compare to Felicia but I can't but to think…_

_He'll be the death of you, Forrest Fan_, her mind told her.

She agreed but still, she could not stop feeling this warm sensation inside of her. They've gone a long way since her first day of school when she collapsed on the dirty pile of leaves. She felt ridiculous at the thought of that. _Kai's my friend now. I don't need to be scared of him... but I just wish that he was more_, she thought as she sighed and fell into slumber.

Several minutes later, Theresa entered mutely in the room with a warm smile on her face. She grabbed a bag that was swung carelessly to the side by Forrest and stuffed it with her exchange clothes and bathing suit. She gazed at Forrest. She'd been like Forrest's 'mother' for a while. It wasn't an easy task because the young girl had a rather complicated personality.

"You poor motherless child," Theresa muttered as she closed the curtains and drew a soft blanket over Forrest's body.

* * *

On the oncoming Monday, everything changed. 

Aurora decided that it was time to go back to China for a visit; both Ray and Mariah went with her. Forrest knew that Christmas would be different without them. As the Bladebreakers went to the airport to wish them a good trip, Forrest felt like she lost a small part of him. Ray was an important person in her life; he was the one who was nice to her at first, and he was why Forrest got to know the Bladebreakers. Ray and Max were the only ones who talked to her at first, and then slowly, who had imagined that she would land in a friendship with the cold Kai.

"Take care of him for me; he's a coward to admit that he needs friends. Goodbye Forrest!" Ray whispered to her as he gave her a friendly hug.

"You sound like we're never going to see each other again, Ray Kon. You're coming back in several weeks!" Forrest exclaimed as she patted his back.

"I know. But I'm going to miss the tryouts, aren't I? Good luck."

And with that, he went on to say goodbye to Kai and the others. Soon, Ray, Mariah and Aurora stepped into the gate with their passports in hands and not looking back. Forrest could see the sight of them disappear second by second.

_Till next we meet_, Forrest thought as she turned to Kai.

"Come on, we missed enough of school already," Forrest said as she looked at her watch. It was _12:42_.

"I don't want to go to school," Tyson groaned. Forrest gave a slight giggle.

All of them got into a car and got home an hour later. There wasn't much of school left so they decided to skip the last two classes (Tyson jumped in joy while Forrest gave a slight groan). Forrest left everyone else in Kai's study room; she went to practice beyblading in peace.

_Another step to success_, she thought. _It's not that I give up swimming… it's just that. All my family, my grandmother was a known entertainer, my mom was a singer and she married the rich brat—aka my dad, my aunt is a quite renowned painter and my cousin is a famous actress. What am I? No one. I'm just Forrest Fan, a girl who started living a new life. I'm a girl who cannot help but to fall in love with a guy out of her reach. I'm stronger than this… Am I? Beyblading will keep all this out of my mind. I'll be successful, but not by singing, painting or acting. I'll be successful by my own ways. And I believe that beyblading will lead me to some other roads of career. Besides, I live with the captain of the word champ team. I should take advantage of that. I want fame, and I hate to admit that._

Forrest felt a shiver run down her spine as she felt a snowflake touch the tip of her nose. It melted immediately and she looked up at the grey sky. It was snowing, the first snow of the winter. She beamed as she tucked some hair behind her ear and exhaled a breath to see a white smoke appearing in front of her because of the cold weather.

_We're going to have a white Christmas. This means something good_, she thought as she launched her blade.

"Starlet, let's do this together. Let's join the Bladebreakers and participate in this tournament. We won't conquer the world but we'll succeed."

Starlet transformed into a dolphin and the creature had a proud expression. Its semi-transparent grey shiny body looked slippery. It gave a shriek and suddenly the sky turned even darker. Snow started falling in great quantity and Forrest grinned wider.

"It's beautiful. Thank you, Starlet. You're a friend that every girl wishes to have."

Forrest stretched her arms out and turned her gaze to the sky. She felt several flakes land on her cheeks and she giggled, she opened the mouth and tried to catch some flakes but they always melted before they reached her tongue. She whirled around while feeling giddier than for a long time. She dancing in the _snow_.

_This is way better than dancing in the rain_, she thought.

After a few minutes, a thin layer of snow lay on the grass and Starlet transformed into a lion on its own.

"Come on. Melt it."

Starlet shot a blaze of fire from its mouth and the ice turned into water. Forrest grinned childishly and watched her bitbeast train itself. The creature switched back and forth from dolphin to lion, using ice and then fire attacks. After six attempts of transforming and attacking, Forrest felt drowsy but she didn't tell Starlet anything. _If I can't take this, I will never be able to take an opponent_, she thought as she ordered Starlet to continue.

What she did not know was that a pair of crimson eyes was staring at her full of sympathy, and worry.

_Don't overwhelm yourself, Forrest Fan_.

* * *

Christmas Eve came before Forrest had the time to do much shopping. She spent most of her free time between swimming and practicing for the tryouts. Her relay team was doing very good. They were either second or third in every race and with a little bit more training, and the second place was going to be theirs. Beyblading has been a little bit more difficult because it was tricky to train without challenging someone and there weren't always people around. 

Performing at the TV kept her busy because winter vacation started and many people came to the club everyday and more performances were requested. Sometime, Forrest just wanted to throw up on the stage, some of the songs were so dull and some of the guests requested dancers who wore nothing but what seemed like a handkerchief and a thong. Luckily, Forrest didn't always have to cope with those because she was a main singer, and she couldn't dance. Sometime, she felt bad for Chloe because the Russian girl did a lot of dancing too, but in much less revealing clothes. Shayna focused more on singing than dancing so she escaped those horrible times too.

Forrest felt Kai nudge her and she looked up. She practically dozed off because she was so sleepy. They were in a nice and cozy small-sized house owned by Jacqueline Fan. The party was pretty extravagant and Forrest almost wanted to laugh at the desserts that they served. They were tiny soufflés, desserts, and little cups of champagne, basically everything was in small quantity because people were supposed to come on a full stomach, but Forrest didn't.

"Tyson would be busted if he was here," Forrest said as she looked at her companion.

Kai was feeling rather uncomfortable. He was around Forrest's family mainly because his family was consisted of either extremely wealthy people or the poor and unlucky ones. He could see it by their choice of clothing, and their actions. But he had to admit that all of them had a decent education in being polite.

He could easily distinguish her family members by their thick black hair and short heights. He had tried to smile during the night and it was difficult for him. For he, Kai Hiwatari, never smiled and he never wanted to fake-smile anyway.

_Maybe that's where she got all her fake-smile abilities, she does them so well_, he thought as he looked at Forrest's content face. He knew that she was bored and tired; anyone could sense it if they observed her well.

"Can we get out of here?" she whispered to him. He snickered. "This was a bad idea."

Before that he could give a reply, Forrest walked in a fast pace towards the center of the room, where Jacqueline was situated.

"Ah, Forrest!" Jacqueline said.

"Jacqueline, I am very sorry but you see, my plans changed. My boss wants me at the club today. I couldn't take the whole night off. And well, I'm not the person who stays at extravagant parties either. But I thank you for inviting me here," Forrest said, as politely as she could.

Jacqueline gave a frank smile and nodded. "You may go. Please come visit any time! Oh and here."

Forrest felt Jacqueline slip a small wrapped box to her. She blushed.

"Well, my present to you is under the tree," Forrest said. Jacqueline nodded and returned to her conversation with an elder man. Forrest retreated to Kai and they both made a quiet exit to the Fan's party.

"Phew, I thought that I could die in there. The strong scent of perfume and argh, I could have fainted," Forrest sighed as she got in a cab. "The TV club, sir, on the corner of Sakura Street and Kazainu."

She felt trapped again in the scent of his skin and the dark lights of the streets. She felt so content at that moment, the _almost perfect_ guy sitting beside her. But she tried to lean in the seat and closed her eyes.

"Mh, Kai? We're here," Forrest said as she paid the driver and pushed the door open. Kai yawned and shrugged, then followed her into the club. He let her wander to the backdoor as he entered through the front door.

"Those whores are here again!" Forrest heard someone shout.

"Calm down, Shayna," Forrest said as she grinned and saw her friend with headphones over her ears.

"At least I'm not dancing today," Shayna said as she rolled her eyes. "You better change."

Forrest did change, and she grimaced at outfit. It was a tight dark green dress.

"Let me guess, Chloe has a pink dress, I have a green one and you have a blue one," Forrest said while changing.

"You are _so _clever," Shayna said sarcastically. Both of them stepped out in their outfit at the same time. Shayna gave a dramatic sigh. Their dresses fitted well and they stopped, to Forrest's horror, at the middle of their thigh.

"They could use a little bit more fabric. Plus the spotlight's going to be on us. Do you have a clue what we're singing?" Forrest rambled.

"We're all doing solos today so… well, Chloe's doing hers right now. We have a choice. We have two songs here, one from an opera and one sang by Jessica Simpson."

"Jessica Simpson? I hate her."

"It's called 'With You', I never heard either of them," Shayna said, shrugging.

"I know the Simpson one. So I guess that I'll go with that. Good luck with the other one. It's hard," Forrest said as she glanced over the sheet of music.

Shayna just shrugged again. "I'm only doing the first part 'cause there's no guys who sing here." And with that, she went on stage after looking at the lyrics one more time. Chloe came back to the dressing room quietly, the Russian girl was flushed and she sat down quietly beside Forrest.

Forrest herself was impressed at how Shayna could memorize the lyrics so fast, but all of them had too. They had headsets on stage that played the song that they were singing so that they could catch up with lyrics but it was still hard to sing everything perfectly. Forrest looked at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. She tried to stretch her dress a little so that it won't stick on her body but it wouldn't work. She sighed.

_Almost my turn_, she thought as she stepped behind the curtains, she heard the ending to Shayna's song.

_Imagine me trying too hard to put you from my mind_

_Recall those days_

_Look back on all those times_

_Think of the things we'll never do_

_There will never be a day when I won't think of you._

Her voice was left echoing for several seconds. The piano released with the chorus and everyone clapped. On that day, the room was filled with more people because it was a holiday and Tala had invited a special performance group to the club. That was the reason why Forrest, Shayna and Chloe didn't have to sing the whole night. But they still had to help around with the bartenders and waiters/waitresses because the club was crowded.

Forrest stepped onto the stage and Shayna left it. The jet-blacked haired girl grinned at the blue-black haired one. Forrest cleared her throat.

"With you by Jessica Simpson," she said into the microphone. Several people clapped and as the applause faded, the band started playing. Forrest closed her eyes and tried to keep the heat from creeping up her cheeks.

_The real me used to laugh all night  
Lying in the grass, just talking 'bout love  
But lately I've been jaded  
Life got so complicated_

_Yeah, life does get complicated when you like Kai…,_ she thought as she did her little walk-around-the-stage-with-a-microphone-routine that she came up with several days ago. Since she couldn't dance, she thought that the least she could do was to walk around.

_But with you  
I can let my hair down  
I can say anything crazy  
I know you'll catch me right before I hit the ground_

Forrest gave a sigh and she hoped that the audience didn't hear it. She grimaced as her voice dropped a little, singing the last two words out of tune.

_Sometimes it's hard to breathe  
Just knowing you found me_

Her lips curled into a genuine smile.

_'Cause I start thinking about it  
I almost forgot what it was like  
To know when love feels right_

_Come and take me  
Love you, save me_

_Now that I'm with you_

_Kai,_ Forrest thought_. I can't..._

Forrest gave a quick bow and started to exit the stage quietly. The crowd gave a polite applaud but Forrest turned her back on them. She wanted to cry because of him. He was with his girlfriend again, hugging each other. They looked so happy.

_Maybe it's just meant to be like this,_ she thought_, maybe I'm just supposed to be a hopeless romantic. I'll stay jealous all life._

"There's always second chances, right?" she asked herself out loud.

She saw Shayna look at her weirdly so she waved to the girl.

"Never mind, Shayna. Let's go help around," Forrest said, giving her friend a fake smile.

The green-eyed girl felt something burning on the back of her neck as she was helping waitresses. She grabbed a spare apron from behind the bar and tied it around her waist.

"Table 15!" the bartender yelled. Forrest gave a nod and carried the tray with several cups of cocktails in them. The cups were decorated with small paper-umbrellas and the ice cubes inside made many clinks when they touched each other. Forrest arrived at the table to see several guys seating there. She gave a fake smile and placed the cocktails on the table. Then she left for another batch of "delivery".

She felt the burning again and turned her head around. Her eyes met mahogany ones and she grinned sheepishly.

_I just hope that you won't hurt me that much, Kai._ She glanced at Felicia, who was snuggling comfortably against him. It was late after all. And she couldn't blame Felicia for sleeping on her boyfriend's chest. _I can't blame her. I can only blame myself for being so stupid and selfish._

* * *

It was terribly dark; the time was around 2 AM. Nothing much could be seen or heard in the dead silent house. It was like a graveyard. 

_But I can't sleep,_ she thought as she rolled on her bed uncomfortably. She grabbed her alarmed clock and opened the bedside lamp to check the time. 2:18, it read. It's daytime there. I could…

No matter how much Forrest hated him, he was still her biological father and it was still his birthday. She shifted a little to reach for her cell phone carelessly. Under her alarm clock was a phone call card. Way cheaper this way, she thought as she dialed the number on the card. She used it to contact her friends in the U.S. even though she didn't speak to them often. Forrest leaned back to fall into the soft velvet sheets of her bed and groaned. She waited for the connection to reach practically the other side of the world, in New York City, where her father worked. I hate Wall Street, she thought.

"You've reached the private office of David—"

"I wish to speak to him immediately," Forrest groaned into the phone.

"I'm sorry miss but I believe that's impossible at the moment. I could leave a message for him… your name?"

"I'm his daughter, Miss Sullivan," Forrest rolled her eyes to herself as she recognized the voice of the speaker.

"Oh, sorry, Miss Forrest Fan. Your father is at his birthday lunch."

"More like midnight snack," Forrest grumbled.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh no," she quick shot back, "time difference, you know. So what's the number?"

"No need, I'll transfer you right away. Give me a se—"

And the line was cut, followed by a long period of silence but Forrest knew not to hang up.

"Da—" came from the other line.

"Hey," she mumbled quickly, cutting him off, "happy birthday to you."

"Such an honor, chere daughter, (dear)" her father said after a short pause. Forrest could hear the slight sarcasm in his voice.

"Well, if that's all that you can reply back, I'll just hang up. I wish you a happy anniversary and… have a great rest of life with your wife," she said flatly as she gave a yawn.

"Forrest…," his voice sounded calm. "You can't hate me forever. You can blame me but you know that it's not my fault."

"I know. I don't blame you, dad," she mumbled, glancing out the window and into what seemed like an endless void. Mama's death isn't anyone's fault. "But it was your own choice to marry again so quickly after my mother died. That's not respectful."

"You can't judge her if you haven't met her, Forrest."

"I…"

"This world isn't black and white, Forrest. There are countless shades of grey," he continued.

"I have to go, David," she said coolly. "Once again, I wish a very happy birthday."

The line went dead and she gripped her hair in her hands, digging her fingernails into the skin of her forehead. She panted slightly.

_Not black and white… shades of grey…why am I always wrong?_ She grunted.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Once again, I took the time to cut lyrics out. Thoughts appreciated! 


	12. Slashed Apart

_Oh dear, it's the battle of the sexes, once again._

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 12: Slashed Apart**

**

* * *

**

He stared at her for the whole night, watching her not-so-brilliant performance and her not-so-graceful movements in the club. She looked like she was trying her best and a smile graced her lips. But he knew that under that fake smile, something was wrong. And he had a slight guess why. It was true that she started backing away from him at times. He felt her friendship slip away; she would blush and be quiet around him, not like before. She used to blabber nervously and he actually enjoyed listening to her ramblings.

_But we are friends. Aren't we? She was the first girl whom I _socialized _with_, he thought as he turned his cup of soda in his hand as he sighed. Felicia did not come that night so he was alone.

Soon a fight started between his heart and his brain.

_You are weak, Kai. You have Felicia, what more do you want? Forrest is even weaker than Felicia._

_But she's a strong person, I know she is and besides, I don't want her. _

_Women are weak._

_She's not weak inside._

_Being strong inside is not being strong. Think, Kai._

_She'll tryout for the team, if she makes it fair and square, I won't stop her._

_But you know that she's too weak to battle._

_She's stronger than a lot of others. And she's courageous._

_You like her._

_Of course I do, I'm her friend. And we live in the same freaking house._

_Don't be stupid, Kai._

He slowly got up and his eyes searched for Forrest through the dimly lighted but fancy VIP room. He saw her turn to him and a smile was on her face. He gave a slight nod to her then she went back to her work.

_I will not fall for her_, he assured himself. _If I do, I'll be weak and besides, I'm far from it_. His brain took over his heart. _My grandfather has always taught me to not show emotions 'cause if I do, that'll be my weakness. And I need no weaknesses_.

* * *

Time spent together was no long cherished between the two. It just happened on Christmas Eve, they interacted less. They talked less and somehow they even bumped into each other less. Somehow, he always found a way to avoid her and vice-versa. It was strange but they needed to be alone. 

Christmas passed like expected. The usual people were invited to a party at Tyson's dojo. There was nothing too interesting; several people kissed under the mistletoe, gifts were exchanged and laughter rang in the dojo. But whenever Kai looked at Forrest, he found her eyes tainted with regret. He wondered why. He searched for the reason, caring a little for his so-called friend.

Then he noticed: it was him. She was regretting being with him. He didn't understand why. _Is she scared of me, again?_ he asked himself as he remembered the incident on her first day of school. _That's stupid. I've changed since then, and she did too_.

As winter break ended, school started once again and the tryouts were about to start. For once, Kai wasn't thinking about his fading friendship with Forrest but whenever he spent time with her, he felt that they both knew what was going on. But they just both didn't want to speak about it. Luckily, not many people noticed.

Forrest was expecting the end of their friendship and the end of the relationship that never started, but Kai did not say anything. She could see that he became rather distant but she did not say anything about it. But she was glad that Kai still stayed by her side, even though she wasn't sure if he was being a friend or simply pitying her. She regretted even thinking that he would somehow care about her more than he cared about others. _I'm just like the next girl, just like the next girl who walks behind him_, she thought as she sighed. _I'm so scared to fall for him. I'm so scared to admit that I did. And I can't, he'll ruin my whole life_, Forrest thought as she watched her teammates swim at practice.

Her team was improving and luckily she was focused enough to not let her feelings mix with school things. Everything was just like normal, except for the distant glances that they sent to each other. In the hallways, she would hear murmurs about Kai and her, and she would ignore them. But sometimes, she was even curious herself. What did the others think of them? Did they think that they were friends? Or did they think that Forrest was just like another girl drooling over him?

Kai, on the other hand, was used of being a subject of gossip so he ignored them completely. At the mansion, he would see her practice beyblade everyday and he knew that something was going to happen after the tryouts, but he didn't know what. He just expected something to happen, he knew that Forrest was hiding something and he had a hinge that it was about him. _She over-drank that night. She couldn't have meant it_, he thought as he reflected over the night when she told him that she liked him. _She told me that she wants us to be more than friends. But we are more than friends… we're house-mates. How close does that make us? _

* * *

The date was January the 13th, it was the day of the tryouts and Kai knew why Forrest was short-tempered that day so he decided to avoid her. Forrest had been anticipating for that day for a whole month and she wasn't sure if she was ready yet. 

_There's_ _all kinds of people wanting to join the Bladebreakers, and I think that they should. Many bladers are better than me but… they just live too far away. Do I stand a chance?_ she asked herself, starting to lose confidence. The tryouts were held in the gym at school and Forrest wasn't sure how many people were there. She scanned the room, there was about 50. She sighed.

She turned her gaze to the judges—the Bladebreakers, _well the rest of them, not counting Ray, _she thought. They all had a clipboard in their arms to keep score.

_Maybe this is more serious than I thought it would be_, she thought. Forrest thought that they were going to choose the winner of the tournament, but she guessed wrong. The team decided to give each person a score based on performance, attack, strategy and etc. and the person with the highest wins. Of course, if one competitor wins a match, they get scores added to their evaluations score. Kai stood up and Forrest found several girls staring at him, she rolled her eyes. _Are they here for beyblading?_

Kai, being the captain, explained the rules of the tryouts, how they were going to evaluate people and how each of them got a number and he was going to select people to battle against each other with their numbers in a hat. He drew the first two: 21 and 8.

A girl and a boy stepped to the center of the gym where a temporary dish sat. The girl stared at Kai and fluttered her eyelashes prettily. Forrest watched in disgust and rooted for the guy. The match started and it didn't last long because the girl had no skills whatsoever.

"If there's anyone more who can't beyblade here, get out!" Kai barked furiously. "This is a waste of time," he muttered under his breath. Forrest laughed out loud in the crowd. A dozen girls got out giggling and Kai fumed.

Tyson reached in the hat and drew two more numbers. "44 and 41!" he called.

This time, two guys appeared and both looked competitive. The match kept going for ten minutes and Kai called it a stalemate; they didn't have enough time to watch people blade for a long time.

Several other pairs went against each other before Forrest's number was called. She started getting impatient.

"25 and 13!" Max called. Forrest stepped to the arena with a half grin on her face. She was number 25. "Good luck, Forrest!" The green eyed girl smirked at the Bladebreakers and turned her attention to her opponent. It was a guy with light brown hair and he held his head high in confidence.

"Dating the team won't help you, stupid women," the guy spat.

"I'm not dating anyone and I'm not stupid, you sexist. Let it rip!" Forrest yelled as she launched her blade into the dish. Her opponent did the same.

The two blades collided against each other for several times. They hit each other in midair, they tried to dodge attacks and one physical attack after another was thrown at each other. Forrest got tired of it.

"Starlet, earthquake!"

A horse rose out of the black and yellow blade and suddenly the ground shook, the other blade was caught off guard so Starlet had a chance to charge towards it and knock it out of the dish. The light-brown haired boy blinked in confusion, he hadn't caught up what just happened.

"Number 25 wins! Next will be 49 and 23!" Tyson called as he drew out two slips of paper. Forrest smiled to herself and walked to the benches on the side. The next pair stepped to the dish quickly, not interrupting the process of things.

_First round, check_, she thought. _Good job Starlet_.

The black-and-blue haired girl was too delighted to feel tired, she watched nine more matches before the second round started. She watched for strong players and there were several of them, but only half of them had bitbeasts.

"Second round is starting!" Kai called as he put the winners' numbers in the hat and threw out the other slips. "47 and 23!"

Only sixteen people were left in the second round and most of them were boys. Forrest groaned. Two boys stepped to the arena and the match started. The two shared a short battle and Kai stopped them before one was defeated.

"That's enough," the cold-hearted captain said. "12 and 50!" he called. Two more guys followed and the same thing happened. Two more groups were called before a girl was in one of the battles. Forrest had lost all of her enthusiasm, she was about to fall asleep when she heard Kai call her number. "25 and 44!"

Forrest looked up and frowned, she was part of the last pair to blade in the second round. She lazily got up and eyed her opponent; it was a guy with long bangs that covered his eyes. He had a mysterious aura around him. She rolled her eyes. Without saying a word, Forrest launched her blade into the dish. Unfortunately, she had underestimated her opponent for he had a bitbeast and an unnatural one. It was a shadow. She wasn't sure _exactly_ _what_ it was.

"Mysterious, heh? Good one," she mumbled. "Starlet, fire tornado!"

A small tornado started forming as a winged lion appeared floating above the black-and-yellow blade. The temperature rose around them and soon the tornado was big enough to send the blade flying. But that wasn't enough to defeat him.

"Don't underestimate me," the guy muttered. His blade was burned badly but it did stop spinning or slow down. "Shadow curse!"

The attack went not to Starlet but to Forrest, the girl was hit full in the chest and she gasped. Horrible images appeared in her mind; people burning, blood dripping, rape, violence, ghosts, and a high shriek was left echoing in her mind and after a minute or so, Forrest regained herself. By then, Starlet was losing.

"So you control fear," she stated, frowning. A smile started to form on her lips. "But I'm not scared." Forrest regained her confidence and she saw her way around the beast. _Since it's not physical and I can't attack it, I'll attack him. After all, he gave me the idea_, she thought as she grinned to herself. _Screw the rules._

Starlet read Forrest's thoughts and sent the guy flying in the midair with a wind attack. The mysterious opponent of hers was flung backwards to hit the wall. He bit his lip in embarrassment. Soon the blade, without the commands of its master, stopped spinning and the mysterious male yelled in anger.

"That's against the rules of the tryouts!"

"You didn't think about that when you attacked me with fear, did you? Deal with it," Forrest spat as she stepped away.

Kai didn't hesitate to keep going with the tryouts. "We are now done with the second round," he said with not much expression in his face or voice. "According to your scores, these people will move on: number 12, 23, 21, 2, 29, 11, 31 and 25".

"But I won the match!" a guy complained.

"But your performance _sucked_. You won by luck. Neither you nor your opponent deserves to be on the team, especially with that attitude. Now _please_ get out!" Kai said flatly. He was definitely starting to lose his temper; after all, the tryouts were longer than he thought they could be.

Kenny took out the unwanted slips of paper and placed the rest back in the hat. He drew two numbers. "21 and 25!" he called. Forrest frowned.

_But I just went! Can't I at least have the time to rest?_ But she knew better not to disobey to the order of matches. So she stepped to the center of the gym again. It was a boy who battled in the first match of the tryouts. Forrest had an advantage because she had analyzed the moves used in the first few battles before she got bored. _His element is water so I'll go with electricity_.

"You have no chance with me! I control water and you have fire. You're going down!" the boy said as he launched his blade but Forrest couldn't help but to laugh.

"Who said that my bitbeast controlled fire?" she asked, smirking. "Thunder rage!"

Kai witnessed the attack again; just like the first battle that he shared with Forrest. A mighty looking winged horse appeared and thunder followed a slight earthquake. The horse charged with its full force and knocked the other blade out of the dish after five attempts.

She grinned proudly and stepped to the benches with her beyblade in her hand. The boy left the gym while cursing his misfortune.

"12 and 2!" Tyson shouted as he drew two slips of paper out of the hat.

Forrest watched the next matches with slight enthusiasm as she nursed her headache. _I have strength, come on, two more rounds_, she told herself. She closed her eyes and tried to relax but it was impossible due to the fact that the bench felt hard like diamonds against her body. She sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"The fourth round will start now! And according to the scores, numbers 23, 2, 29 and 25 will go on," Tyson announced as he gave a quick grin to Forrest. She smiled back. "And we will start this round with 23 and 2!"

Again, two boys walked to the center and they glared at each other. Two blades were launched into the dish and the tension was in the air. The two blades fought against each other for several seconds before only one bitbeast was launched. Forrest was quite surprised that a blade without a bitbeast has made so far in the tryouts but she noticed that the guy did have excellent strategy.

"No beast? That's just a shame," a guy scowled. His opponent glared at him and fumed. A bear appeared and began to charge towards the other boy.

"Dodge it." It did.

By then, the bear was angry and it charged with a mighty roar towards the blade. The beastless blade merely dodged and ended up with a long but shallow scratch on the surface.

"Strike back!"

But it was too late, the bear knocked its fat body into the beastless blade and it shattered into several pieces. The tiny pieces flew like dust and some reflected the sunlight. Everything became silent.

The boy slowly stepped to the center of the dish and picked up the pieces of his blade, disbelieving what just happened. He was trembling. His lips were quivering badly.

"You'll pay," he threatened as he walked away.

_That's what I hate about these moronic tryouts,_ Kai thought. _Adversaries… some people are just too foolish_.

Without being called, Forrest strolled to the center of the room to meet her second-to-last opponent. It was another guy. She had to admit that he was handsome, his hair was spiked a little bit and the color was a dark and rich brown, like dark chocolate. His eyes were like a pair of sparkling amethyst.

"Hey, pretty boy," she called, showing a fake-smile. "Let's boogie." And with that she launched her blade. The brown-haired boy caught up soon and launched his own blade. As soon as it reached the dish, its bitbeast was summoned. It was a hare. Forrest almost snorted. "A bunny rabbit?"

The amethyst-eyed boy frowned and laughed. "Just because you sleep with the captain doesn't mean that you can earn a place in the team and less beat me. It's a hare, a wild rabbit and it has fangs," he paused. "It likes blood." His pupils became cat-like and he chuckled to himself.

Forrest frowned. "I don't sleep with anyone, you son of a bitch!" With that, she snarled: "Earthquake!" As soon as the word came out, the ground shook and a crack appeared in the dish.

"Manners, my lady," Forrest's opponent spat.

"Of course, _my lord_."

From the audience's point of view, the match seemed rather amusing, or at least, Kai thought so. _She has a temper that one, she sure does_, he rolled his eyes.

"Thunder rage!"

"Deadly fang!"

The beyblades clashed into each other in midair and both flew back out of the dish. Forrest caught hers and bit her bottom lip. It was the first draw. She stepped away of the dish.

"It's time for pep talk!" Max exclaimed.

"Cut the crap out," Kai spat. "We have no time for this."

"Fine, a short pep talk. Alright, folks, all of you guys have came this far and you were all great. By now, there are only four people left and we have to eliminate two of you because we cannot keep that many people on a team. But I assure you, your skills are all very decent so don't be disappointed if you don't make into the finals," Max said with a happy voice.

Forrest nodded to herself and sighed. She felt a long scratch on her arm because of that _bunny rabbit_.

"Now, the two finalists are…" Tyson paused for a dramatic effect.

"2 and 25!" Kenny piped in.

Forrest's heart almost jumped with joy but she told herself that there was one more round left. She felt her heart pounding against her chest as she once again stepped to the almost cracked-dish.

"Let it rip!" the boy with the bear bitbeast yelled as he launched his blade. Forrest followed him.

The two blades clashed in midair and landed on opposite sides. Forrest stared into her opponent's eyes and smirked.

_High attack, medium endurance and low defense_, she thought. _As long as I can attack from far_.

"Frozen tornado!" A dolphin appeared.

Kai was already familiar with that attack; she had used it against him for several times.

"That is not possible! Your bitbeast is a lion… or a horse!" the guy yelled in confusion.

"It is neither, it's a star," Forrest said, shrugging. She was left off guard for a second and during that time the bear struck the dolphin. The sea creature shrieked in pain and so did Forrest. She had another long scratch on her leg. "Frozen tornado!"

The same attack was used and the other blade was thrown against the dish but it did not get damaged.

"Slash it apart!"

Forrest clenched her fists together and told Starlet to dodge but it was hard, the bear was so angered that he grew in size and Starlet was like a mouse compared to it. She watched desperately as the bear charged with its fat body towards Starlet, she gritted her teeth. Then Forrest felt something come in contact with her shoulder. It wasn't painful at first but then she felt it slash across her upper body. She shrieked in pain and collapsed on the ground, she was on her knees but not yet ready to give up. Starlet was wobbling. And Forrest's shirt was torn in several pieces, revealing white bra straps. Blood dripped down her arms. She felt hopeless for the first time in her life.

"So you're physically connected to your blade?" the guy asked rhetorically. "Slash—"

"That's enough!" came a roar. Both of them turned their attention to the speaker in surprise.

"Kai…" Forrest mumbled between gasps. Her lips were bleeding too. She looked miserable. As she felt her own blood gliding down her arms to her hands, she quivered; she was frightened by the sight of blood.

"You're disqualified," Kai shot at the guy.

"Why?"

"You're a heartless bastard and we don't need one on the team," the Russian spat.

"She's your girlfriend, isn't she? Is that why? And you know what? You're a heartless bastard too!" the guy spat back.

"I know…," Kai said, and then he smirked slightly. "That's why we don't need another 'heartless bastard', do we?"

Forrest wanted to giggle at the comment but she couldn't. Pain shot through her body and it was almost unbearable. She gripped her shirt tightly.

"But if she decides to quit team, we'll call you," Kenny said, trying to sooth the tension between the two guys.

"I don't want to be on this team anyway. I'm starting my own and I'll beat you! All of you!"

With that, the boy with the bear bitbeast walked away without another word. After he disappeared from sight, the team ran to Forrest.

"I'm fine," she mumbled. "Just ask James to take me home." She stood up shakily. "And tell Tala Valkov that… I'm skipping my shift today."

Kai gave a wave which meant that he was going to take care of it. His teammates all nodded and decided to go home themselves.

With Kai's help, Forrest stumbled out of the gym and into the black car that James drove. Luckily for them, school wasn't far away from the Hiwatari place.

"Am I in?" Forrest asked timidly as she let him help her get into the car.

"Hn," he replied.

"Thanks, Kai," she mumbled as she winced in pain.

"But you'll have to quit swimming."

Forrest bit her lip, tasting some dried up blood on it. She knew that it would happen because she could not manage to do so many things at once but it was hard to choose. She tried to relax at the moment but it grew impossible. The soft leather interior of the car and the scent of a strong air freshener filled the car. She felt awfully lightheaded.

"Alright," she said. "Only after I lead my team to victory in the relay race."

"When?"

"Next week."

The two-toned haired boy nodded silently.

* * *

The club was crowded like usual but the VIP room was rather empty. Tala Valkov took a seat in the front row and he leaned against the chair. He watched his cousin end her dance performance. It was already quite late so he was sure that requests had ended long ago. There was only about half a dozen people in the quiet room. 

Then, a girl with long jet black hair stepped on the stage, under the spotlight. She wore a tight marine blue dress with diamonds studded on it that accented her curves well.She gleamed under the light. Tala had seen her around so many times, that jet-blacked haired girl hung out with Forrest outside and in school. He sat beside her during many occasions; they even shared two kisses, one under a mistletoe and another one because of a dare. But they rarely spoke at all. He knew that she was pretty but also out of his limits. And he also knew for sure that she loved music, like he did. After all, that's why he opened a club. He loved music underneath his love for beyblading and his cold heart.

He heard the song start. It wasn't played by the band or by a pianist, it was a recording.

"_You know everything that I'm afraid of_," she started. To him, her voice sounded angelic, as soft as rose petals and melodious. Her eyes were closed to give her a dreamy expression. He watched her in silence, in awe. He never had the time to watch his performers because he met with important people who came at his club or he was busy running it. But he wished that he had come more often. It wasn't him who auditioned the girl either; it was his assistant, Chris.

_You do everything I wish I did  
Everybody wants you, everybody loves you _

_Ooh, I got a crush on you  
I hope you feel the way that I do  
I get a rush  
When I'm with you  
Ooh, I've got a crush on you  
A crush on you_

She opened her eyes and somehow, he felt that she was looking at him. For a moment, he felt like they were the only ones alive in their miserable world.

_You know, I'm the one that you can talk to  
And sometimes you tell me thing that I don't want to know  
I just want to hold you_

She grabbed the microphone and her voice grew a little bit louder.

_You say everything that no one says  
But I feel everything that you're afraid to feel  
I will always want you, I will always love you  
I've got a crush on you_

Her angelic voice faded away and her eyes were opened. She felt herself blush when she found the owner of the TV staring straight into her eyes. She stepped off the stage with a sigh of relief. A techno song started playing for the dancers.

_What's wrong with me? _she asked herself as she put her hand to her forehead. She entered her dressing room and sat on her chair in front of the mirror. She looked at herself, her jet-black hair hanging down her shoulders, her ocean blue eyes full of questions. She put her headphones on and closed her eyes.

Suddenly she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," she groaned. She opened her eyes and saw red hair in the mirror. She turned her head around. "Tala Valkov? I mean… boss."

"Call me Tala. That was a nice performance," he muttered.

She felt sparks flying as she saw his aqua marine eyes bore into hers and his hand reached for hers, just like a prefect gentleman. She grinned and took his hand willingly.

"Do you want to have a drink or two?" he asked casually.

"Sure," she accepted grinning from one ear to another.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Another short chapter, mhmmm. Well, that song is Crush by Mandy Moore. Quite appropriate, nay? Anyway, Shayna Tanaka is elementBLUE's OC. There's another OC coming ahead in later chapters. Mkayy, review! 


	13. A Second Chance

_Do you believe in anything? Anything magical?_

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 13: A Second Chance**

**

* * *

**

It was the next day, January the 14th, a Saturday.

"Ray Kon, how dare you!" Forrest exclaimed as she gave him a welcoming hug. "How dare you not call me when you arrived at airport!"

"I had a ride and everything… so how's everything?" the Chinese boy asked, winking.

"What? Everything's fine," Forrest replied clueless. "Hey Mariah and Aurora!"

Two girls appeared, one with pink hair and the other with dark brown hair.

"Forrest, hey! I need to highlight your hair again, it's all faded!" Mariah exclaimed. It was true; the blue highlights were almost all faded. Aurora just gave a polite nod.

"Come on in," Forrest said, putting a fake smile on her face again.

"We won't be staying here this time, we caused you guys too much trouble. Mariah offered us her place," Ray said as he stepped in the room.

"Oh well, we don't mind," Forrest said. She winced at the thought of '_we_', it sounded like Kai and she were married.

"So?" Ray asked pocking an eyebrow.

"What?"

"How were the tryouts?"

"Oh, right. 'Twas fine," she mumbled before she called Kai.

"Kai!" Ray exclaimed as he saw the Russian boy. Kai smirked slightly and they exchanged some kind of hand shake. "She's in?"

Kai eyed Forrest for a second and nodded.

"Where's Max?" Ray asked as the five of them made their way to the lounge.

"He's not here, why?" Forrest asked as she sat down in a comfortable couch.

"He's not at Tyson's," Mariah replied for him.

"You guys went there before you came here? Gee, that's nice," Forrest said, sticking her tongue out.

A small conversation started about their trip to China, and in return, Forrest enlightened them about the recent events. And during the whole time, Aurora stayed silent; her hand was in her pocket, fingering the rough edges of an object. Forrest gave several discreet glances to the dark-brown haired girl's direction, she frowned.

"Aurora?" she asked, timidly.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay? You're awfully quiet, quieter than usual," Forrest said with a tiny bit of concern.

"Nothing," the Chinese girl replied, "just dizzy."

Forrest shrugged to herself as she turned back to the conversation but she let her eyes linger on the Chinese's girl's pockets then both pairs of eyes met. A shiver ran down Forrest's spine, Aurora's eyes were a cold grey. She felt like déjà vu all over. Her eyes landed on the floor, her brain was cloudy and she was confused. She rubbed her forehead and tried to remember where she's seen those eyes. But she couldn't remember. So she lifted her head back again, pretending that nothing happened. She stole a glance towards the Chinese girl, her eyes were back to usual, the yellow-green eyes.

_I think that I lost too much blood yesterday_, Forrest thought as she saw a suspicious look on Aurora's perfect face.

"Hey, Forrest, you okay?" Mariah asked as she saw the girl zoning out.

"Oh yeah. A bit tired," Forrest mumbled, rubbing her forehead again. And grinning stupidly.

"You know, we are the ones who just took an airplane ride, not you!" Ray chuckled.

"Still kind of weak from that injury from the tryouts, nothing big," she replied, smiling slightly.

"Was he tough, your opponent?" Mariah asked out of curiosity.

"He was a jerk, he told us that he was going to start a new team," Forrest said calmly.

"A beyblading team?" Aurora asked, her head shot up in surprise.

"Since when do you beyblade, Aurora?" Mariah asked. "You told us that you wouldn't join the White Tigers, we would have been happy to take you if you were good, no offense."

"None taken," Aurora replied. "What's his name?"

"Something Kata," Kai replied, frowning.

"Thanks," the Chinese girl mumbled.

Forrest turned back to her conversation with Ray and Mariah but her mind lingered on Aurora. She felt like she's seen those grey eyes before but she couldn't remember where, or when.

"Right, so meet us at Tyson's today, about 4 o'clock," Ray said as he stood up. "We'll go. We need to take care of some few things."

"Tyson's? For what?" Forrest asked.

"Tactics for the tournament, we always go to Tyson's. His dojo is quite the place to practice," he replied.

"Hn."

James led the Chinese newcomers to the door and Forrest waved goodbye to them before the doors were shut.

"Forrest," the Russian boy started. "We need to talk."

She paused in her position and shut her eyes. _Oh no, shit,_ she thought.

"What about?" she asked, her voice a little shaky.

"Your strength and your weaknesses." Forrest felt herself relax a little bit, she thought that Kai wanted to converse about another subject, a more intimate one.

"I know, I know. I did poorly against that Kata guy, I shouldn't let my guard down, don't underestimate people, think of more strategies, keep up my strength, exercise and everything else but give me a break. I have one more week before the relays, let me swim, all right?" she rambled as she stepped to the staircase and walked to her room without looking at Kai or waiting for him to reply back.

Kai pocked an eyebrow and shrugged. _At least she still rambles_, he thought as he went to the study room.

* * *

"Forrest, are you listening to me?" 

"Huh?"

She jerked her head up instantly and looked at the speaker, it was Kai. They were at Tyson's speaking of the tournament and their opponents. Kenny had taken the time to pull out files from the competing teams.

"You have to listen or else you're out of the team," he stated harshly. "I can call that Kata guy right away."

"Right, really sorry," she said, blushing.

"Did you say Kata?" Kenny asked. "There's a team under his name. Actually, a quite new team. They just updated."

"No way! That guy who beat Forrest?" Tyson said, looking over Kenny's shoulders. Forrest shot him a glare.

"Pierce Kata, one quarter British blood. It goes on… Bitbeast name is Slasours, main attack is slash, well we've sure seen that. He's captain of the team called Slayers. Next person, Kazu Kiitoroshi, main attacks shadow curse, that's the guy who controls fear, it seems like he also controls the darkness. Next is Satomi Greenfield—"

"Bitbeast is Galopsus. Elements thunder and earth, main attacks thunder outrage and earthquake," Forrest recited by heart. "Starlet learned those moves from her, I met her and we became good friends. She taught me many tactics."

"Right, you can enlighten us on her strategies, least the ones that you know," Ray said. "Go on, Tyson."

"Right, Aurora—"

There was a short moment of silence and Ray almost choked.

"What!" Ray exclaimed, his eyes widened in surprise. "No way, she's…"

"She asked about the team yesterday," Forrest muttered under her breath. "That must be why."

Tension was in the air and Ray felt very uncomfortable. _How can she…? _he asked himself, confused.

"Then I'm not going," the Chinese boy said simply.

"Not going?" Kenny asked. "You're not participating?"

"Yes," he replied like it was nothing.

"Ray Kon!" Forrest said. "You can't back away! You guys already have me to cope with and now with you gone, we're going to lose this."

"I have to," he mumbled.

"Why?" this time it was Kai speaking.

"She made me promise in China. She made me promise her that I would never be her enemy in anything. I didn't know what it meant, maybe she saw it coming all along," he said, sighing. "And besides, we have you now. And this isn't the biggest tournament; it's only a small private one."

Forrest couldn't believe what was happening. Ray Kon, one of the top ten beybladers in the world was backing away from a tournament because of a stupid promise. _Maybe he likes her so much_, she thought. _I can't believe this. _She wasn't the only one furious at him; Max gave a glare, which was rare because Max never glared. Tyson clenched his fists silently and he started shaking his leg nervously. Kai was speechless.

"Maybe we can ask Tala again," Tyson said, almost stuttering.

"We can't. I registered the team yesterday. Ray will just not play which means that Forrest, Max, and you Tyson," Kai said, looking at each person respectively, "will be playing in the first rounds. I will join in the later rounds."

"That means that I'm not blading in the final round," Forrest said, sighing. Kai frowned.

"Yes, you are still new and weak compared to us," he stated the truth.

Forrest nodded slowly in return and stayed silent.

"So we covered every team, I think that it's time for physical training," Kenny said as he closed his laptop to Dizzy's protests.

"Tyson and Max, you two battle. Ray, you can rest for the moment since you're not participating or you can judge the battle. Forrest, come with me," Kai said as he stood up swiftly. Forrest didn't want to talk to him, but she still obeyed. "You need to practice your endurance."

"I don't see why I should practice and not Starlet," she complained.

"Because your bitbeast is connected to you, if you have high endurance, he does too," he stated as-matter-of-factly. Forrest rolled her eyes; she hated it when others were right, it made her look like a fool.

_But then again, I am a fool, ain't I? Why did I join this? It's a thirst for fame, I guess. It comes with the family_, she thought as she followed Kai outside of the room and into the backyard.

"I want you to hang on that tree branch with your legs," he said.

"What?"

"Upside down, like a bat."

"What the f—"

"Don't question me," he warned. "I'm still your captain." Forrest quickly nodded and made herself to the tree; she climbed it with difficulty and sighed as she arrived at the branch. She gulped, _what if I fall on my head?_ she asked herself. _I would be so embarrassed._

"I'll fall," she mumbled, blushing. "And I don't see the point of this anyway."

"It's endurance, it's the most simple test."

"No, it's not endurance, it's just me feeling all the blood in my body flowing towards my brain. Not comfortable, may I add," she said, sitting on the branch.

"Exactly."

She didn't see the point of this task but she obeyed anyway, it wasn't going to kill her and Kai's expression looked threatening. She hooked her legs to the branch, and slightly leaned down. Her arms caught the branch and slowly released it as she swung upside down, her legs supporting her whole body against gravity. Immediately, she felt dizzy, the blood was flowing towards her brain.

"And are you just going to watch me?" Forrest asked. "I would rather watch you get tortured too."

"I'm the captain."

A minute passed and Forrest felt her head swell with a weird feeling. Her arms caught the branch and slowly started to make her way to a normal position.

"No," the Russian boy said. "Not long enough. You really have poor endurance."

"But…" her voice trailed off. The slate haired boy's face was marked with impatience. She gave a quick sigh and felt the blood overflowing in her head again.

"Kai?" she broke the silence after another minute or so, hoping to start a conversation..

"What?" he replied in annoyance.

"Felicia was rather happy, at the practice, does it have to do with you?"

"Hn."

"What happened?"

"We both decided on something, which you don't need to know."

"What?"

He scowled at her. "Mind your own business."

Forrest blinked to herself and gave a pitiful look to him, finally understanding what he meant.

"I bet the girls swarmed you yesterday," she said in a mocking voice. "Who is it now?"

"No one."

"Kai, are we still friends?" she blurted out suddenly.

It was simple question but it brought so many other complicated questions to his mind. _Are we?_ he asked himself. _We barely talk anymore, everything just seemed to fade away._

"Kai…" she mumbled. "I know that this is the wrong time but…," she gulped, "I think I've taken a pretty… big liking in you. I'm not sure how serious but..."

Her voice was so quiet like the whispering of the wind, he wasn't exactly sure of what he heard. On her face was the most genuine smile she ever gave anyone. _Just a crush…_

"But I don't want that to stop anything, and definitely not our already evanescing friendship."

"I… I'm not looking for a relationship from now on," his voice was sincere and that was enough for Forrest. He didn't look at her. He was afraid to see her cry but she didn't. No tears were shed that day.

She just kept smiling, there, hanging upside down from a tree, letting the wind blow her loose hair.

"Do you believe in soul-mates, Forrest?" he asked, casually.

"No, and neither in love at first sight," she replied with her eyes closed.

The leaves rustled and Forrest could hear Max and Tyson commenting on each other's moves. She grinned unconsciously. _At least he's still the same person, the same person whom I fell in love with_. But she would never tell him that. She would **never **tell him. Besides, she wasn't sure about it herself.

"My brain is getting too hazy," Forrest said as she reached for the branch after a while. This time, Kai didn't order her to go back.

"12 minutes and 31 seconds," he said, looking at a stopwatch.

"Not bad, heh?" she asked, grinning.

"Not bad," he agreed.

* * *

Forrest stepped into a warm room; it was decorated with a big couch and computer desk. She wasn't sure where she was but Kai had ordered her to go there, he told her that it was extremely important to register herself in the BBA files or else she wouldn't be able to beyblade in the tournaments. 

"Miss Forrest, I presume," said an old man who she did not recognize.

"Forrest Fan, yes, sir," she replied politely.

"You're the new teammate," he stated.

"I'm only replacing Ray. I'm a temporary teammate."

The elderly man nodded with acknowledgement and gestured Forrest to sit down on the couch.

"You might know me. People call me Mr. Dickenson," he said. She nodded; she heard his name very often. "Well, I wish you much luck in this tournament, do your best."

"Of course, sir," she said, smiling. She wasn't sure herself if it was a fake smile or a true one, this Mr. Dickenson made her feel very welcomed. "I'll do my best."

"I believe that this is your first time being part of a Beyblade team," he said. She nodded. "I need to help you create a profile. Kenny cannot access these files from his computer, but I can. I have just enough time now to assist you through a part of this. My secretary will help you do the rest of it."

"Arigatou," she replied. "Really, thank you."

The old man gestured Forrest to come over to his desk. Mr. Dickenson typed some commands into the computer and a screen popped up. _Username, Password:_, it said. Forrest immediately turned her head to let the old man type in his information.

"Your legal name is Laura Fan, I believe."

"Yes, sir."

"Age?"

"15."

"Ethnicity?"

"I was born in the U.S.," she replied.

"Bitbeast name, stats and main attacks?"

"Starlet. Attack, 3 stars, defense 1 star, speed 2 stars and endurance … Well I'm not sure about endurance, maybe 1 or 2," she replied, remembering her trainings on endurance with Kai.

"Alright, let's put 1 just in case," the old man replied, typing in the stats.

"Main attacks are… fire tornado, thunder outrage, and frozen tornado."

"Many elements?" the man asked rhetorically. "Do you have any questions before I leave you with my secretary? I need to attend to a rather important meeting soon."

"I'm fine, thanks again, Mr. Dickenson," Forrest replied sincerely.

The old man gave a nod and called his secretary on the intercom. Almost instantly, a young lady around the age of 25 stepped in the room. She was dressed formally and her hair was tied up in a half-ponytail.

"Help Miss Forrest Fan with her BBA profile," the elderly man said as he took his hat and put it on his bald head. "Sayonara."

The secretary continued with the interrogation and Forrest replied to the questions.

"Alright now you can type up your own profile, if you want. Make it realistic," the young lady said with a wink. Forrest giggled slightly.

She sat in the chair, relaxing against the leather material and stared at the screen, the cursor blinking every second or so.

_Laura Fan, preferably called Forrest Fan is a 15 years old girl from Salt Lake City, USA._

She paused and thought for a few seconds. By then, the secretary already left her alone in the big and spacious room.

_Her first Beyblading team is the Bladebreakers, she is very humble and mentions that she was surprised that she made the team._

_No, no_, she thought. _That sounds sappy._

She pressed backspace for a few seconds and rewrote the sentence.

_The Bladebreakers is the first team that she'd been part of. She is very glad to be on the team. Forrest Fan is the weakest player on the team, but she has some tricks up her sleeves. She is a temporary player replacing whoever is unavailable on the team. _

_Her mother died several years ago, and her father is a—_

_He's a … cross that off_, she thought as she remembered her conversation with him several weeks ago.

_Her mother died several years ago, so Forrest is in Japan to visit her Japanese relatives. She currently resides with her fellow Russian teammate: Kai Hiwatari. She trains very hard to improve herself in beyblading and in swimming. _

_Forrest believes in karma and second chances. _

And then she clicked on "Finish". She reread her profile and pocked an eyebrow. _That last sentence really doesn't go with the profile, does it? _She asked herself, but it was too late. She needed a username and password to correct the profile, she sighed. _Too bad_, she thought as she stood up and walked outside of the door. _No one's going to read it anyway._

"I'm done," she told the secretary. The lady smiled back and nodded.

"You may go." Forrest nodded curtly and walked away from the BBA office.

She searched for her cell phone in her pockets and called James to pick her up. After ten minutes of waiting, a black car appeared and Forrest smiled. She opened the door and stepped into the front passenger seat.

"Thanks," she told him.

"My pleasure, miss."

"So where am I going?"

"To Master Kai's friend's house; Tyson Granger's."

Forrest nodded silently and the rest of the car trip was silent. Her eyes were closed and she looked as if she was meditating.

James stepped on the breaks and Forrest felt herself jerk forward but the seatbelt tied her down to the seat. She untied the belt and opened the door herself. After she waved goodbye to James, she made her way through the small but comfortable garden in front of Tyson's house. She rang the doorbell and heard loud footsteps—which sounded more like stomps—heading towards her.

"Forrest! What took you so long?" Max Tate asked, chuckling as he opened the door.

"Glad to see that you're having fun," Forrest replied indifferently.

"Not exactly," Max whispered, scared that Kai would hear him.

Forrest couldn't help but to chuckle at this.

"Ray's still not here like usual?" Forrest asked casually as she stepped into the entrance. Max nodded. "He's really devoted to her, heh?"

Max didn't need to reply to her question; Forrest already knew the answer.

_Well_, she thought. _Back to endurance training._

* * *

It was late, the disco lights seemed blurry to her eyes. Everything was a blur. She gave a great yawn and sighed. She was watching Chloe finish her solo dance before she could step on stage with Shayna. It was a Sunday night; the date was January the 15th, actually it was the 16th because it was three in the morning already. Forrest's swimming race was the week after and the Beyblade tournament was a month after. 

The crowd included several customers here and there around the fancy room; the Bladebreakers and the owner of the TV, Tala Valkov himself were there too. She never noticed him watching performances but then again, it was particularly dull that day. Not many people were there even though it was a Sunday. The day was in the middle of nowhere, winter vacation had ended a week ago and no holidays were in sight.

They had already sung many songs, most of them were in other languages than Japanese because the TV became known as the "Foreigner's Club". Forrest could agree to the nickname because out of all the people who were watching the performances, only Ray, Tyson and Kai looked Asian.

_Actually Kai doesn't look Asian_, Forrest thought.

Special bands were often invited to perform in the club, but Forrest didn't know any of them. They sang in different languages, there were German bands, some from the Bahamas, some who sang African folk songs mixed with Jazz and many more. The most awkward moment was when she had to learn the lyrics to a Portuguese song; she had no clue what it meant or how to pronounce the words. She doubted that Shayna or Chloe knew how to speak Portuguese either so the three of them just mumbled through the song.

Chloe and several other dancers finally finished their dance solo so both Forrest and Shayna stepped into the spotlight. The band wasn't there that night so they sang with a recording.

"Debussie," Shayna said into the microphone. Immediately after, the music started playing.

_I've been looking through these eyes_

_Of black and white for far too long_

_And now these deepen colors seem so shocking_

_Will my life be long enough_

_To see the things I want to see?_

_I believe this world is just too big for me_

_Every cloud that passes by is another cloud I'll never see _

_Maybe I just try to hard to understand all of these thing_

_This time it's just a blink of an eye_

_A glimpse into the world we were never meant to see_

_So don't hang on to anything at all_

_And all the things we have_

_And all the people we have known_

_Will fade away so quickly_

_Into the deep_

_And memories of love_

_Will be the only warmth we have in the end_

This time, the two sang together through the whole song in unison. Applaud was heard at the end and the two bowed. Shayna stepped backstage to let Forrest do a requested song.

The fast beatings of drum were heard and the song started.

_Seems like just yesterday_

_You were a part of me_

Her eyes were fixed on a two-toned haired boy. But she didn't even notice. She was trying too hard to memorize the lyrics of the song. She just tried to do her job well.

_Here I am, once again_

_I'm torn into pieces_

_Can't deny it, can't pretend_

_Just thought you were the one_

_Swallow me then spit me out_

_For hating you, I blame myself_

_Seeing you it kills me now_

_No, I don't cry on the outside_

_Anymore..._

_But you won't get to see the tears I cry_

_Behind these hazel eyes_

At the end, Kai looked back at her and noticed that Forrest's eyes were almost expressionless, her eyes just showed tiredness, and then he noticed the bags under her eyes. The performer bowed and let Shayna sing her solo.

Shayna sang a slow Japanese song, which Forrest did not recognize, but it sounded sad and emotional. Forrest noticed that the girl's eyes were fixed on the crowd, more specifically at the table where the Bladebreakers sat. Before leaving the stage completely, she looked in that direction too and noticed Tala staring at Shayna. Forrest grinned slightly.

_Well I definitely won't let my mood ruin those two_, she thought. In fact since she told Kai about her feelings for him, she hasn't been feeling very well because they didn't talk anymore, they didn't' talk _at all_. It seemed like somehow they always found a way to avoid each other in and out of school. Forrest couldn't help but to admit that she was deceived by that. She thought that at least their friendship could become better, but she was wrong in the end. _But it's okay because I'll return to America anyway. I don't belong here_. The decision had been made several days ago, when she was alone in her room and thinking. All that she thought was worth staying for disappeared. The club became rather boring, they sang songs that she did not like often and Kai, as her house-mate, just ignored her. Life turned so dull and depressing.

Forrest stared at her tired-looking face in the mirror and sighed. She saw Shayna enter so she turned her head around.

"Can I take the night off?" Forrest asked. "If you guys don't mind." She looked at Shayna and Chloe, who sat several feet away from her.

"It's okay, there's no one here anyway. We can just put the dance songs on," Chloe said while brushing her hair. Shayna just nodded and put her earphones on.

Forrest changed back to her normal clothing which consisted of a medium fitting thick jacket on top of a T-shirt and denims. She roughly wrapped her scarf around her neck and lower parts of her cheeks and made her way to the VIP room.

Forrest walked in and searched for Kai. Slowly, she walked up to him and patted his shoulder.

"Do you want to go back?" she asked, whispering.

The disco lights started shimmering and many people stepped onto the dance floor.

"What?" Kai asked as the music started.

"Do you want to go back?" she repeated, louder.

"Hn," he muttered as he stood up and shoved some money to the table for the waiters. He then pretended that Forrest wasn't there and made his way to the exit. It was only when he arrived at the cold and silent streets that he waited for her to catch up with him.

The two house-mates waited in silence for James to arrive in his black car. Forrest stole several glances towards the Russian boy and found him staring into the streets in her direction. She blushed slightly and turned away.

"Kai?" she called.

"Mhmmm…"

"Could you…" her voice trailed off. "Give me another chance?" Her voice sounded squeaky.

"A chance?"

"To be your friend again," she replied, smiling as she turned around to face him. But his glance was cold.

It was dark outside but he could see that her eyes were filled with hope and he felt pity towards her. _I won't shatter those hopes then_, he thought as he gave a sigh and nodded. _She deserves a second chance_. It was to his surprise that Forrest gave him a hug. He felt warmer because he was only wearing a thin sweater while she wore a thick jacket. One of his arms crept to her back and patted her every two seconds or so. She was like a little child who needed protection.

Forrest sighed quietly and for the first time in her life, she felt like she was safe from all the miseries of the world around her.

"I feel so safe in your arms," she whispered softly.

Kai wasn't sure if she had said something because it sounded like the whispers of the wind.

She felt a wind sweep across them and she pulled away from him.

"Thanks."

He nodded with sympathy.

_You changed, Kai_, his mind told him. He merely chuckled.

_For the better_, he told himself. _Friendship is invaluable but love is still more precious. And she… told me that she fell for me. That's almost love, right? _

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Debussie by DaphneLovesDerby and Behind These Hazel Eyes by KellyClarkson. 

Please review :)


	14. Article and Medal

_Chapter dedicated to **AnimeGirl329**, my partner in crime & co-write on the story called Chaos of the Bey_. Go check it out!

* * *

_Pride._ _Ego. Selfish. They're all the same._

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 14: Article and Medal**

**

* * *

**

She was walking to her first class, English. The hallways were almost empty because she was very early. The rare morning students walking all glanced at her weirdly, she felt really uncomfortable. Forrest Fan was not nearly used of being the subject of gossip.

_What's wrong with living in Kai's house?_ she asked herself. Her arms were on the sides, her right hand clutching on a Japanese novel. She mounted the stairs to the second floor but almost slipped down. But with her instincts, she caught the sides of stairways.

"Watch out, miss!" a man cried in Japanese.

"Sorry…," she mumbled. _I must be too early, even the janitor's still here_.

The floor had just been swiped early in the morning; it was still wet so Forrest tried to walk carefully. She finally made herself up to the second floor and saw the man who spoke to her. He was a rather old man, his face was wrinkled in many places, a dark ring hung under his eyes but nevertheless he looked happy. He was humming a song under his breath while he mopped the floor, stopping to rinse his mop every half a minute or so. Then he took a handkerchief out of his pockets and cleaned his sweat-covered forehead. He turned around as he heard someone approaching.

"Ah, you," he said, simply.

"Me? Do I know you?" she responded, unsure.

"You shouldn't. I'm just a janitor."

"A nice and humble janitor," Forrest replied, smiling slightly. The old man chuckled.

"Raula (Laura) Fan, right?" he asked.

"Forrest. Please call me Forrest, and you are…?"

"You need not to know my name, miss."

"And why is that?" she inquired.

"You're famous, I'm just a janitor."

"I'm not famous," she said, confused.

"Look for yourself," he said, his arm pointing to a trashcan.

Forrest tried to hide her confused look but she failed as she looked at an item in the trashcan. It was a magazine. A beyblade magazine and in the front page was the picture of a new team named Dreams of Eden and in the lower right corner it said: "_Laura Fan, worthy? Page 12."_ She frowned as she picked up the magazine, not caring if it was dirty or not. She immediately flipped to page 12, at the top were several snapshots of her at school and at the tryouts; she sighed and started reading the article.

_The new teammate of the Bladebreakers, the team who had won the world championship, is named Laura Fan is originated from Salt Lake City, United States. She currently resides with the team captain, Kai Hiwatari, and works in a club named TV owned by an ex-Demolition Boys, Tala Valkov. How will she do in the tournament? We had the privileges to ask that question to several of Laura's school mates._

"_She's a decent blader. I've met her before in the U.S.. I've once taught her some tricks of mine and she masterered them well. We will definitely meet in the tournament and I'll be glad to battle against my old friend," said a young lady named Satomi Greenfield, part of the new team called The Slayers captained by Pierce Kata. _

_Speaking of Kata, we have also interviewed him: "I've beaten her. She looks tough and she has some tricks up her sleeve but I'm sure that my team will lead the way to victory. And we'll squash her and the Bladebreakers."_

_Then we came across the captain of the swim team, which Forrest is also part of. The captain told us that her name was Felicia. "She's not the best swimmer but a good one. I don't take interest in beyblading but I do know that if she's in swimming and beyblading in the same time, she'll fail either one, or most likely both. Nevertheless, she is a strong individual."_

"_She has an amazing voice. I auditioned her along with many other people. She made the role as lead singer. I never knew that she was into beyblading," said a man nicknamed Chris, who managed the club in which Fan performed in._

_According to these statements made by these people, Fan seemed rather like a weak player. But why would the Bladebreakers allow her to join the world-champ team? Her focuses include becoming a translator, performing well in both a swimming relay race and on stage in a club. Will she have enough to take beyblading too?_

Forrest stopped reading. Her expression was a mix of horror and amusement.

_They wrote an article about me? _She always laughed but her eyes glanced over the paper and a name caught her.

_A known actress, Jacqueline Fan, is the cousin of the new Bladebreaker, Laura Fan. She told us: "Our family has always been into arts. My mother paints, I act and etc. Forrest, or so called Laura, has been singing since the age of 7. Her mother has always been encouraging her to sing. I'm rather surprised that she turned to beyblading but nevertheless I believe that my cousin will succeed. I wish good luck to her."_

Forrest sighed and grinned. _Thanks, Jacqueline,_ she thought as she sighed and threw the magazine back into the garbage bin. She didn't want to keep reading.

"Thanks for telling me that. I never knew," she said to the janitor, who was now at the end of the hallway.

"You're welcome."

She bit on her bottom lip and wondered on her new miseries. _I have gossipers against me now. I just love my life_, she thought as she leaned against the wall, near room 201. She had no intentions of going in because she knew that Janet wasn't in there yet. To see Miss Akiyo's emotional face was not what she needed at the moment. Her gaze wandered to her watch, _7:47_. She sighed as she opened the book that she had in her hands and started reading. It was a dull book but Miss Akiyo had assigned them to read it and write summaries of the chapters. Forrest had to read it several times over because she couldn't catch half of the things that were written. _I want to go back after this tournament… after Jacqueline wants me leave. Staying here will only make everything worse_, she told herself, rereading over a paragraph three times.

* * *

"Forrest? Hey, Forrest, hello?" Ray asked as he waved his hand in front of her face. 

"Mhmm, hi Ray," she said, yawning.

"We're paired up to do an oral activity… do you want me to start?" he asked.

"Sure," she mumbled, looking at nothing in particular.

"You know what, drop it," Ray said, sighing. "You're not paying attention."

Forrest didn't hear him, her gaze wandered around the room and unconsciously, it landed on a blue-and-slate haired boy sitting near the window. But she wasn't exactly looking at him, she was staring in to the void, at least, she felt like it. Sentences flashed in her brain. …_worthy?_

"I am worthy…," she mumbled.

"What?" Ray asked, facing her.

Silence.

"I read the magazine," she admitted as she looked at the Chinese boy in front of her.

"Which one?"

"You mean there's more than one?" she exclaimed, snapping back from her own little world.

"Well yes, if you're speaking of beyblading magazines… and articles about you. I've wondered when you were going to read them. They've been all over the place."

"Then why didn't I know earlier?" she asked, slightly angry.

"Because Kai doesn't subscribe to any of them and neither do we. We've all agreed to stay away from interviewers and magazines and such. Gossip doesn't do good with us," he replied, sighing.

"This sucks."

"What sucks?"

"To be known. To want to do something with one's life and others trying to screw up every one of your attempts," she spat coldly as she instinctively gave a sharp look to Kai. The Russian boy turned around and heard her.

_So she was searching for fame. I was right_, he thought as he looked over the piece of paper and his partner, Tyson. _They're all the same_.

"Vous avez fini votre activite? (Did you finish your activity?)" Mr. LeBoeuf asked with a low voice. Several people nodded and others shook their heads. "Deux minutes." (Two minutes.)

Forrest sighed and stood up. She felt glances directed towards her as she walked to the front of the room.

"Restroom," she told him in Japanese as she walked away without him telling her anything. She opened the door and closed it behind her with a rather loud slam. The air was cold; it was January 19th, one day before the swim contest. The lawn was covered with a small layer of ice, which was snow first but melted and froze. Forrest almost slipped several times so she gripped the trunks of the trees and made herself to a fat trunk. She recognized that place. She was there, several months ago, scared in a new school with nowhere to go. She collapsed against the trunks and slid down to the frozen ground. Several months before, there was no ice there, there was a dirty pile of dried up leaves. She felt her lower part of her legs touch the icy element. She shivered but sat down anyway. It woke her up from her daydream.

In the winter, the school still required the girls to wear skirts. They had long woolen socks that reached their knees for warmth and a jacket with the school badge. Luckily for her, the skirt was heavily knitted and warm.

She looked up at the skies and sighed. It was cloudless and it would have been a perfect day if only she didn't see that article. _But I had to, sooner or later_, she thought. _I can't let my thoughts down. The swim race is tomorrow. _

For a month, her thoughts were always concentrated on beyblading and swimming. Her grades dropped and her reputation did too. She received several detentions for being careless, for not doing homework and being late because she often tried to encourage her teammates to practice swimming before school.

The only happy thing that happened was that an old friend of hers, Satomi Greenfield had come to the school several days before. Forrest was delighted even though they only shared English and music together (Satomi was fluent in Japanese).

"Hey there," a voice called, in English. Forrest jerked her head up to see a girl that she's seen around sometimes. "Oh sorry, I spoke in English again. Bad habit of mine."

"Hey, it's okay, I like English better anyway. Don't you have class?" she asked but her voice kind of faded away. _I sound rude_, she told herself.

"Sorry. I have a free period."

Forrest pocked an eyebrow. "I don't believe that this school gives free second periods."

"Alright, I have physical education and I'm skipping it," the newcomer replied, rolling her eyes.

The girl standing in front of her was about her age with a slender silhouette and a small but delicate smile hung on her face. Her eyes were a color several shades lighter than Forrest's and her hair was a mix of a brilliant brown and red.

"Forrest Fan."

"Namiko Hunter." Forrest noticed that girl had a British accent.

Namiko crouched down beside Forrest on the grass and stared at the ground.

"Your skirt's all muddy," Namiko said, randomly.

"Mhmm?" Forrest groaned as she looked at her piece of clothing. She let out a grunt and stood up. She tried to clean her skirt. "Oh well."

"At least you didn't say _yuck_," Namiko chuckled.

"Why would I do that?" Forrest asked.

"It's just for the while that I've been in this school, I've always been around _guys_ and around _guys_ comes the _cheerleaders_, whom I _detest_ 'cause many are… slores."

"Slores?"

"Cross between slut and whore, but not all of them are."

"Agreed."

"So who do you hang out with?"

_She doesn't read beyblade magazines, does she? Well that's good_, Forrest thought.

"Mostly guys too and several girls," Forrest replied.

"So what are you doing here?"

"I'm supposed to be going to the bathroom."

Namiko chuckled a light-weighted laughter.

"They'll think that you're stuck there."

"Oh darn," Forrest said sarcastically. "Well I'd better go. See you around sometimes."

"Yeah… I think that I've seen you in English before."

"That's great. See you after lunch then." With that, Forrest left, she zipped down her jacket and kicked off some mud from her shoes as she entered the fully heated hallways of the first floor. She gave a deep sigh and opened the door.

Several pairs of eyes stared at her in amusement. The class was almost finished and she'd been gone for thirty minutes to the bathroom. Forrest didn't bother answering Mr. LeBoeuf's question of "where she was". She just sat back into her chair and was glad to be saved by the bell.

* * *

"Welcome to the annual swim contest! This year, the event is relay races in groups of 4's!" 

Forrest grinned to herself as she put on her swimming cap, which she had to write a "14" on because her relay team was number 14. Felicia's team was number 6.

"Teams 1 through 10 please step to the pool!" the announcer yelled into a megaphone.

Forrest saw Felicia lead her team with a proud grin to the pool, each one of them wearing a cap with the number 6 on it. They went in order that they were going to swim. A girl with the hot pink swimsuit was to go first, then followed by the silver eyed girl. Third was Shizu, the slowest of the team, and last was Felicia, the fastest, who hoped to catch up with the time that Shizu would lose to her team. The lineup was practically perfect. Forrest sighed.

Ten teams lined up on the edge of the big pool. The first swimmers all dived in one after another.

"You are going to swim to the other edge and back. You must touch the other side or else you'll be disqualified. While the person in front of you is swimming, you may jump into the pool. When that person comes back and touch the edge of this side of pool, you can start swimming right away. Now, on the count of 10," the swimmers were all in their positions. "10, 9, 8, 7," Forrest felt her beat several times between each count even though it wasn't her time to swim yet. "6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1," a loud whistle was heard across room.

Immediately, splashes of water was heard and seen. Ten swimmers were almost head to head at first but then the competition became greater and several lagged behind while others in lead. Forrest noticed the girl with the flashy colored swim suit with the big number 6 on her head; she was in the middle, not too fast or too slow. Forrest bit her bottom lip. Even though Felicia's team was their enemy, she still wanted them to make the top three groups so that she could race with them in the second round.

_Who says that you'll make top three? _her mind asked her.

_Of course we will. We will own them. _

Forrest watched the girls come back. Three teams were already on their second swimmers. Then she saw the silver eyed girl with the dark blue swimsuit launch herself speedily into the water, trying to gain back the time that her teammate lost.

_They're all definitely quick_, Forrest thought as she watched them swim. It was hard to tell who were in lead because all of the swimmers were only about a meter apart from each other. One swimmer in lead would lose their first place in a matter of a second. It was a very close race.

Then the third racers started launching themselves in the water. Forrest watched Felicia's team starting to trail behind. Shizu wasn't exactly slow but the others were just too fast. She watched the poor girl trying to swim like she was being chased by a zombie; Forrest could see that Shizu was having difficulty keeping up. But nevertheless, the girl made back and Felicia kicked off a little bit before Shizu reached the wall. The fastest swimmer launched herself like a rocket into the water. In a matter of mere seconds, she passed two teams and she wasn't slowing down. Forrest was definitely impressed by Felicia's pace. Forrest had never seen the girl swim that fast before. She had underestimated her challenge. Forrest sighed and blew some hair away from her face. She watched the race with anticipation.

"First, team number 6!" the man yelled into the megaphone. "Then number 2… and 9! Congratulations. Let's have a pause of two minutes before the next race starts."

Forrest felt her chest jumping up and down, sideways and diagonally; in other words, she felt disorientated. It was worse than stage fright, and the beyblade tryouts put together.

_They came first out of 10 teams… they came first! I'm screwed, we're screwed_, Forrest thought.

"Come on, Folest!" Amira exclaimed. "We can be first too."

"Right," Forrest replied, gaining a little confidence. "Look. I think that they're still pretty tired so you guys swim fast, but not too fast or else you'll be too tired in the second round and if we don't win the second round, the first round doesn't even count, all right?" They nodded. "Let's kick arse." Forrest grinned.

"Teams 10 through 20!"

Forrest almost flinched but she breathed slowly and marched to the pool. The scent of chlorine filled her nose. She bit her bottom lip. Gloria was first to go because she was the slowest. Forrest saw the girl sigh as she jumped into the pool.

"Come on, Gloria. We have faith in you," Forrest told her as she grinned. Gloria simply nodded in reply and smiled back.

"Now, the same rules apply! So on the count of 10…," the announcer said. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!" Once again, a whistle was heard through the big stadium. Forrest was fidgeting and she closed her eyes, scared to watch her teammate swim.

"You're losing faith in her," Amira said. "Don't close your eyes. Cheer for her."

_She's right_, Forrest thought. _I was the one who told her to have faith_. Forrest opened the eyes. Gloria was behind but not last. Forrest wasn't completely relieved but she was less nervous.

"Besides, if we don't make top 3, it's not like we're going to die," Izuki piped in.

"Yeah. You guys are right… thanks," she said as she looked at her teammate in the water. Gloria was making herself back so Amira jumped in the water.

"Good luck," Forrest and Izuki told her at the same time. Amira winked back.

"I'll do my best."

Forrest knew that Amira was a fast and capable swimmer and with effort, Amira was probably faster than her.

"Don't overwhelm yourself, there's still round 2," Forrest added. Amira just nodded back as she positioned herself.

At the same moment that Gloria touched the wall, Amira launched into the water like a dolphin.

"You did great!" Izuki told Gloria as the girl got out of the water.

"Yes, you did," Forrest said, smiling sincerely. Gloria just smiled proudly and grabbed her towel from the side of the pool.

Izuki took the time to jump in the pool; Amira was more than half-way back. The girl put on her goggles swiftly and placed herself in position. As Amira was a quart of a meter away from the wall, Izuki kicked off. Forrest watched her teammate go quickly in the water. Their team was currently 4th place.

"How did I do?" Amira asked as she pulled on the edge of the pool and got out.

"Great, you passed four teams!" Forrest said, grinning.

"Well, you better jump in the pool now. We need you to win, start warming up early," Amira recommended.

Forrest did. She felt the warm water around her and she sighed. Izuki just touched the wall on the other side. Forrest breathed slowly and closed her eyes. For a while, it looked like she was meditating. Then, she opened her eyes. Izuki was half-way back. She bit her bottom lip and readjusted her goggles. She positioned herself and saw Izuki approach her inch by inch, like in slow motion. She wasn't sure if Izuki had touched the wall before she launched off but she was sure that the judges could not see.

The pressure pressed against her whole body but her legs kicked the water rapidly and she only drew breath every forty seconds or so, trying to save time.

_Breathe faster, come on_, she told herself. She took a fast glance around her; she was about 5th because Izuki had been passed by several people. Forrest managed to pass two people when she arrived on the other side of the wall.

_I can't pass 3 more, can I?_ she told herself. _I have to_.

From the point of view of others, Forrest's team stood a slight chance of winning because the last group of swimmers was all very fast. But she kicked hard and swam like a shark was chasing her; it was easy for her to picture a shark behind her because of all the scary movies that she saw involving them. She felt her heart beat faster as she passed a person. She was head to head with another swimmer. They were going to tie third.

_I'm not going to tie with anyone!_ Her head screamed.

So she kicked with a mighty force and did not breathe for one minute straight. When her fingers grasped the edge of the pool, she wasn't sure in what place they came in.

"Team number 11 is first! And then teams 14 and 20 tied in second!"

Forrest sighed in relief. She was tired but not exhausted. She still had lots of energy left for the second round—which, luckily for her, was also the last round.

"We will have a fifteen minutes break."

Forrest got out of the pool and her teammates congratulated her.

"Good job!"

"Thanks. It's gonna be hard next round," Forrest said.

"Duh," Gloria replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Don't worry. Even if we don't make first. We're still top six in the region! And we live in a big one," Amira said.

Izuki didn't say anything; she just hugged Forrest quickly and gestured for them to go in the resting area. They sat on the benches. There weren't many spectators; there were only the coaches and some parents. Since it was a Friday and they had school, they were no students other than the ones in the contest.

"Forrest!" Felicia called in English. For the first time, Forrest noticed that Felicia actually had a very good English accent.

"Hey," she replied.

"Up for the challenge?"

"Of course," Forrest grinned. Felicia nodded curtly. "Just relax yourselves," she told her teammates in Japanese as she turned around.

"Sure, boss," Amira replied, giggling. Forrest chuckled.

_Felicia and Kai… apart._ _But she seems happy about it now, I wonder…_

Those fifteen minutes passed so fast that when a whistle blew, Forrest jumped in surprise.

"Teams 2, 6, 9 11, 14 and 20 please make yourselves to the pool for the final round!"

Forrest once again felt her heart beat out of control. They all walked back to the pool and one by one, the first swimmers all jumped back into the pool.

"Same rules apply here, and we don't want to see cheating! Alright, then. To the count of 10… 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1!"

It was like a stampede, only in the water. They were all very competitive. Gloria was swimming as fast as she could, putting all her energy and concentration to her arms, legs and breathing.

"Team number 2 currently in lead!"

Gloria was fifth while the girl with the hot pink swimsuit was fourth.

"Team 11 in lead!"

Several splashes of water were heard, many swimmers began to jump in the water. Gloria and the other girl were tied forth when they finished their round. Amira and the silver eyed girl both kicked off at the same time.

"Shizu, jump in, now," Felicia said, rather coolly. The girl just nodded and obeyed.

"You can jump in later, Izuki, it doesn't matter, and good job Gloria," Forrest told her teammates, trying to keep the spirit up. "Amira will do great." They all grinned.

Amira was swimming faster than in the first round, her tactics weren't the best she nevertheless she was very fast. In fact, she passed one or two people along the way. She was pretty sure that she was about tied to second with the other swimmer from her school. But almost at the end, she was tired so her strokes became slower. She landed third. Izuki launched herself into the water.

"I looove you!" Forrest exclaimed as she hugged her teammate. "You passed two people. This is great. This leaves Izuki and I more time."

"I know I'm great," Amira replied as she winked and went to grab her towel.

"Well, it's us now," Forrest said as she turned her head to Felicia.

"Sure," the blue haired girl replied as she jumped in the water. Forrest followed the girl's lead and jumped in too.

Shizu and Izuki were both on their way back by then. The tension was in the air.

"Team 20 is in lead and it seems that team 6 is last!"

_They're last… but still Felicia is probably the fastest swimmer in this whole stadium and Izuki is tied fourth_, she thought, panicking. Izuki was approaching quickly so Forrest steadied herself. She saw the girl coming closer… and closer and finally she kicked the wall and began swimming quickly. She wished that she had fins instead and that she had stronger legs. She swam quickly and passed one swimmer. She gave several hard kicks and breathed less as she passed another swimmer. It was becoming harder to even not drown in that pool. The pressure was so high and everyone was swimming like there was no tomorrow, each one of them had strong legs and arms and they all had great techniques. It grew almost impossible to pass the third person but as Forrest saw a girl come head in head with her, she stole a quick glance. It was Felicia.

_I am not going to lose to her…_ she thought. They were already on their ways back, rushing and feeling the pressure against their bodies. Felicia was very quick; she was practically gliding through the water like sliding on ice. Forrest sighed to herself as she tried harder to swim. She was out of breath but she didn't want to breathe, it would slow her down. She took a quick peak out of the water and took in a small amount of air. She continued swimming. The two were almost equal; Felicia was half a meter of Forrest. And both of them swam past the others. _Stop looking… close your eyes_, she told herself and she did. She felt more relaxed that way so she moved her exhausted legs faster. Before she knew it, her fingers touched the wall and she resurfaced. Felicia resurfaced too. _Who was first?_

"Good job, Forrest!" her teammates exclaimed as they made themselves to the pool.

Forrest looked back and saw that other teams arrived too.

"And the winners are… team 6, 14 then 11!"

Forrest felt a disappointed feeling run through her. They came in second. **Second, not first**. She sighed. She looked at nothing in particular as she got out of the pool but she felt a tap on her shoulder. She whirled around to see a girl with blue locks smiling at her.

"You were good competition," Felicia said, sincerely, offering her hand.

"So were you…," Forrest replied, giving a true smile and shook Felicia's hand. _She's a nice girl. I was wrong about Kai's choices. She's just extremely competitive_, she thought.

"I heard that you were quitting."

"Unfortunately, yes," she replied with a small hint of sadness.

"You can always join again when the tournament's over. We need someone like you. I haven't been nice to you recently and that's my fault. I had to deal with a new feeling called _jealousy_." Felicia gave Forrest a significant look. "I've been spoiled for a long time."

The two girls were practically enemies in and out of the pool, what made them friends, Forrest did not know. But they both were glad. Forrest got to see the nice side of Felicia, which she found quite enjoyable. And Felicia was still content about her breakup with Kai; it was the time anyway.

She admitted that Forrest was a decent swimmer and individual.

"Sure, captain," Forrest replied.

"I'm not the captain," Felicia said, chuckling.

"Unofficially. You should be the captain though," Forrest said. Felicia grinned back.

Their coach was literally hopping up and down; he was so delighted.

"Good job! Good job! My teams won first and second, this is definitely my day!" he exclaimed. Forrest laughed at the man to herself. She looked at her teammates and gave a quick grin.

It was time to give them prizes. Each member of Felicia's team got a gold medal while Forrest's team got silver ones. Team 11 got bronze ones and others got certificates.

"Is it real?" Felicia asked, weighing the medal in her hands.

"I wish," Forrest said. "It's just metallic. Not precious metals though." But nevertheless, she wore her medal with pride.

The teams changed, all the anticipation was gone. People were just congratulating each other in the changing rooms. Forrest was one of the first ones to step out of the changing rooms. She stretched herself slightly and sighed. _Today's a good day_, she told herself as she stepped out of the building and onto the streets. It was cold and she was dressed in her uniforms, she didn't bring any other spare clothes because she still had school in the morning. She looked at her watch, _16:37_, it read. Several other people stepped out of the building and Forrest waved to them. They shared a small conversation. As the conversation ended, Forrest spotted a cab, she grinned. _Perfect_, she thought as she waved her arm in midair. The taxi driver made a rough turn and stopped near Forrest.

"Can you take me to the corner of Bakuten and Idako Street," she told him. The cab driver nodded and gestured her to get in. It took half an hour to get to her home, or what she could call home.

The radio was on and Forrest couldn't understand anything they were talking about other than 'konichiwa' and the time. The taxi stopped abruptly and she felt herself being thrown backwards.

"Right, here's the money," she told him slowly in Japanese as she counted the exactly amount. "Arigatou and goodbye."

Her gaze came upon the place, or so-called mansion. It was big and spacious but it wasn't _that _big once she began to know the place. But it was nice, definitely nice. Her lips curled into a silly smile as she felt warmer.

"Home sweet home," she said to herself. "This is my home now… at least for now."

She rang the doorbell and waited for a few seconds. A familiar maid appeared and she smiled to her.

"Welcome back, miss."

"No need to call me that! Just call me Forrest!" the girl exclaimed happily. "Where's Kai?"

"Outside with the others."

"The others are here?"

But the question was left unanswered as she dropped her swimming things in the laundry room and made herself outside, to where they usually were, to the beyblading dish.

"Ooyyy! I'm back!" she exclaimed. Several heads turned towards her, not including Kai's.

"Hey," Tyson called. "How did you do?"

Forrest showed them her medal proudly.

"Silver! Not bad, heh?" she grinned childishly. "Felicia's team got first," she added, looking specifically at Kai. But he didn't budge, he just half-shrugged. His eyes were on his beyblade.

"Good job!" Max exclaimed.

"You better train yourself now, Kai's rather grumpy today," Kenny told her softly. She giggled slightly and looked at the Russian boy.

"What should I do, captain?" she asked turning to the boy.

"Nothing," he replied. She looked at him quizzically. Tyson and Max pouted. "You go rest."

"Um… I'm fine you know. I don't need to rest," Forrest replied, insisting. "I wouldn't want to miss a practice."

"You're pale," he stated. "You look tired. But I do expect you to practice tomorrow instead of today."

Tyson's complaining stopped.

"Poor you. Tomorrow's Saturday, he might keep you busy for the whole day with endurance practice," Tyson said.

Forrest gave a laugh. "Oh well. I have nothing to do anyway. Now I'm focused on beyblading."

"Good," Kai said simply.

Forrest smiled quickly before making herself to her room. Suddenly she heard a ring and fondled in her backpack. Her hand grabbed on her cell phone and she opened it.

"Yes?"

"Hey, Forrest! It's Jacqueline."

"What's up?"

"I should be asking that to you!" the young woman exclaimed. A giggle was heard through the line.

"What do you mean?"

"Your swimming competition!"

"Oh, got silver, I'm delighted. And I read your 'interview' with that _Beyblading_ _Today_."

"Oh," Jacqueline's voice dropped a little. "I wasn't very happy with the result of that article. They made you sound like an incapable person. But I know that my cousin will always succeed."

"Thanks. So um, why are you calling?"

"Well, if you want to know. I'm planning another get-together with the family. Probably the last one 'cause the others can't stay that long. It's on Febuary the fifth, which is about two weeks from today. Is that alright with you? This one is casual because it's sort of sudden. Your cousin Scott has to leave early so I changed the date for it."

"I'm free, I think. I will cancel whatever is in the way. I'll see you there then."

"Sure. I don't recommend bringing anyone but you could, if you want to."

"It's alright. I won't bring anyone."

"Perfect then. I'll send you an email of the place and time tonight. Rest a little, all right?"

"Mhm, okay, thanks."

"You're welcome, bye."

"Bye."

_I have family meetings planned. Now the only things that I'll need to go through is the tournament. Then I'll be back to my normal life, back in America_, she thought as she collapsed onto her bed with her eyes closed and her cell phone was dropped carelessly beside her. _One more month… then it's goodbye Kai. But I'll still remember you. I'll still **care **about you. You'll just never know. _

* * *

**Author's Notes: **That was long... Review! 


	15. Tasteless Breakfast

_Sometime, it's better to stay in bed._

_

* * *

_

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 15: Tasteless Breakfast**

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* * *

**

It was the next day, a full day of training for Forrest. She wasn't excited at all, in fact, she was still very tired from the swimming competition. Her muscles ached and her eyes burned, there was still water in her ears and her head spun without control. But she knew that she couldn't' escape another day of training.

"Erghh," she groaned as she reached the dinner table for breakfast.

Even the toasted bread tasted soggy that morning. The orange juice was sour and the milk was rather thick. _It expired yesterday_, she thought as she looked at the label. _This is great. If I have a stomachache, I can go complain to Kai._ She tried to put a lot of butter on the toast but it didn't work. It was still soggy. She wanted to puke at that moment but gulped down a bunch of orange juice. Forrest never ate Japanese breakfasts, or pancakes or bacons and sausages. She liked it simple. She could cook it herself. Pop some bread in the toaster, get milk and cereal and that was it. _And we're out of cereal!_

"This is not my day," she thought out loud.

"Excuse me, miss Forrest?" Theresa asked as she stepped to the breakfast table.

"Nothing. It's just that the milk's expired and we're out of cereal," she replied with slight annoyance in her voice.

"I'll cook some pancakes if you want," Theresa recommended.

"No thanks."

The older lady shrugged and made herself into the kitchen to cook herself some breakfast. At that moment, Kai appeared. His hair was messy, his shirt was ruffled and he gave a great yawn. Slowly, Forrest brought her eyes to see the boy's figure and almost wanted to laugh. He looked ridiculous because his shirt was put on backwards. She couldn't help but to snort, then she clasped her hands over her mouth, trying to hide the sound.

"Go look at yourself in the mirror, Kai," she told him. He grunted in reply; he didn't care, he already knew anyway.

"Hurry up. Practice in five minutes," he stated casually.

"You didn't even eat," she told him.

"I will," he replied as he grabbed a toast from her plate. "This is soggy." She flushed, embarrassed. She gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah. Not my problem," she replied, drinking more orange juice. "Oh well, see you."

She carefully got up and walked outside. She knew that the Russian was following her because she could hear his rather heavy footsteps behind her.

It was a rather nice morning, it was warm and there were several clouds in the sky. The snow had melted but it wasn't turned into ice so it wasn't slippery either. The beyblading dish was much more scratched up than when she first arrived but it was nevertheless very nice.

"What do I do today?" she asked casually.

"Bey battle with me," he said simply.

"With you? I got knocked out last time," she muttered.

"But you're stronger."

"A little."

"I won't kill you," he stated.

"Uhh," but it was too late. Kai had launched his blade and she had no choice but to launch hers too. The two collided in the dish several times. Forrest felt a little scratch on her arm but it was nothing.

"Fire arrow!"

The red phoenix appeared on top of the beyblade and it shone. Its whole body was ablaze and it charged towards Forrest's blade.

"Starlet! Dodge it!"

A star appeared on top of the other blade. It started running away from Dranzer, dodging the attacks most of the time.

"Fire Tornado!" she screamed. _Fire against fire, let's see about that_, she thought.

"You stupid girl," he muttered. "You haven't learned enough for the past month? Dranzer becomes stronger if she's hit by fire. Thanks for the power boost."

"Shit," she muttered under her breath. She remembered him speaking of that before. She bit her bottom lip. "Tidal wave!"

As Starlet transformed into a dolphin, a big wave appeared out of nowhere. It washed through the dish, making Dranzer weaker.

"Your attack improved," he commented.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Now, stop," he said suddenly. She stared at him weirdly. "Stop!"

"Alright, alright…" she mumbled. "Starlet, stop the attack." The bitbeast obeyed his mistress and the wave disappeared as fast as it came.

"I'm going to attack you ten times. If you can take those ten shots, I'll let you go early," he said.

"Great," she grinned, "let's boogie."

"It's not going to be easy," he said. And instantly, she felt what he meant. Dranzer attacked with its full strength on Starlet, weakening the bitbeast a lot. Forrest felt a deep burn on her leg.

"Go on," she said, gasping a little.

She looked elsewhere, trying to get the sight of Starlet being hurt out of her mind.

"You can't look away, during a Beyblade match, you won't be able to," he told her.

"But you're… ergh, fine."

The second blown was thrown at her, she yanked backwards a little and grimaced. Immediately after, two other shots attacked her. She backed away two steps and bit her bottom lip.

"Can't I at least attack?" she complained.

"No."

"Ouchh," she mumbled as she rubbed her knee. Without her knowing, Dranzer attacked Starlet again. "Damn!"

"Don't cuss," he said, simply.  
"Why not?"

"They broadcast the battles."

"So?" she asked, annoyed. She then turned her attention back to the beyblading dish and made herself ready for Dranzer's attacks.

"You don't want to ruin your image, would you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Tchyeah," she paused, Dranzer was about to strike so she stood firmly. She felt a strong burn on her arm and she winced. "Like my image isn't already destroyed," she continued.

"Tell me, why did you want to beyblade in the first place?"

"Do you want to know the honest truth?" she asked as she rubbed her arm.

"Yes—"

"Oouuuch! Shitshitshitshit," she moaned as Dranzer attacked, that time was the strongest hit yet.

"I told you to pay attention to the battle," he spat.

"But you're freaking distracting me!" she roared back.

"Of course I am. I'm your enemy," he said.

"Are you trying to teach me something?" she asked.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you this, why did you want to join the team?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"Do you really want to know? I wanted to do something in my life, something worthwhile for once, not following what my dad decided for me. He wanted me to be a translator, I could be a translator but while I'm still young, why not beyblade. Besides, look all the people on my mother's side—" Dranzer hit her again. She let a groan and paused, drawing some heavy breaths. "They've always been so successful. I wanted to be successful too."

"You wanted to be famous," he stated.

"Yes, you could put it like that," she replied, wincing. "Two more shots. Give me what you've got, Kai," she told him, with a taunting voice.

"Hn," he muttered. "Fire arrow!"

Forrest felt a force push her several meters back, she landed on her butt and she rolled her eyes. But then suddenly she felt several places burning, her ankle was twisted and her pants were sort of torn. _One last shot_, she thought. _Just one more_. She walked back to her dish slowly, trying to hide the fact that she was rather hurt. But it was hard to not limp.

"Last one," she mumbled.

"Go Dranzer!" he yelled. The flaming phoenix glowed, she looked ferocious.

Forrest felt like suddenly her body was on fire, like all the water molecules were being sucked out of her body. She felt like she was on the edge of falling into a volcano. The burning sensation ran over her body. Beads of sweat glided down her face instantly, her face was a dark red and her breathing was heavy. She clutched her chest as she felt something burning inside. It was like someone set fire in her inner organs.

"What," she choked, "is..." Her voice trailed off, incapable of talking.

"New attack that I've developed," Kai said, simply, shrugging.

"You—you—" she stuttered as she felt the blistering air evanesce away. She gasped loudly and fell down to her knees. She had many burns on her body at different places. "You're merciless."

"Not even close," he said coolly as he walked over to her and offered his hand.

"Thanks," she told him as she took it and coughed. "That was one tough attack."

"It's only strong on you because you're connected to the beast. It's supposed to give you a sensation of being burned inside," he stated.

"I noticed," she said before gasping again. "Sounds like some attack that medieval people would use to punish witches."

"I sort of got the idea from history class," he replied calmly.

"Right," she mumbled as she strolled to a rock and sat down. "So what do you want me to do now?"

"I want you to get used to this lighter and better defense ring. Yours is very scratched up because of the tryouts," he said as he took out something from his pockets. "From Kenny."

She took it from his hands and winced at the contact of her burnt fingers against his cold and rough hand. It was a red ring and she could see that it was very durable.

"I need to paint it," she mumbled.

"What? Paint it?" he cocked an eyebrow

"It's red. My blade is black and yellow."

"Does it matter? Just put it on." Kai rolled his eyes, not understanding what was the problem with beyblades and colors, his own blade was modified so many times that he didn't even know what color it was anymore. The top of a royal blue but the rest… he glanced at Dranzer, was a mix of green, white, yellow, red and other weird colors that didn't blend in well.

_He's saying it like it's dressing up a doll_, she thought as she assembled her beyblade and put on the ring. She wasn't very used to it so she took several minutes to do it. Kai was patient; he waited in silence.

When she was done, she looked at her blade and gave a relief sigh. Her gasps slowed down and her breathing was almost back to usual but she could still feel the burns on almost every part of her body. She heard a _click_ which meant that the ring fitted perfectly. She gave a half-grin.

"Try it," he ordered. She simply nodded before launching it to the dish.

The beyblade spun like usual, there was nothing wrong with it.

"Mmhmm, I don't see much difference," she said.

"You shouldn't," he stated, "now launch it into the pool."

"What!" she exclaimed as if the Russian boy was crazy. "The pool? Excuse me?"

"Practice your speed. If it is fast and light enough, it should be able to make it all the way from this end to the other one without sinking, and plus, your new defense is much lighter than your old one, so it should help," he said like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"No way."

"Yes. And plus your bitbeast can transform into a dolphin; you must have no problem with water. Even Dranzer can make it all way there and back the length of the pool."

She looked at him in awe and frowned, unconvinced. "Show me."

He shrugged and took out his launcher. Dranzer was launched on the surface of the pool. It began spinning extremely fast, splashing water to the sides. It was literally running on water. It ran the length of the pool, touched the other side and came back. Only the bottom part of it was wet. Forrest's eyes were wide opened.

"That's cool," she said. "Very cool."

"Your turn."

"I can't… Starlet can't."

"Then try the width, it's much shorter."

She glanced at his confident face and she nodded. But she wasn't sure at all, it was a crazy idea. _Across the pool?_ _What if it sinks, I'll have to get it, argh_, she thought as she sighed. _Let's try. I bet that everyone on the team can do it. Then I can too_. She launched her blade to the pool and watch it sink a little but resurface quickly. It began spinning and shot straight to the other side of the pool. It was on its way back when it started losing speed; gravity pulled the blade towards the bottom. It sank centimeter by centimeter. Forrest grimaced and blushed crimson. But Starlet managed near enough to the edge for Forrest to crouch down and catch the beyblade.

But as she leaned down, she slipped down and her heart raced. _Oh no, no, no, no_, she thought as she tried to grab on something but couldn't. She felt Kai trying to grab her by her shirt but it wasn't enough.

She opened her eyes in the water and it stung for a second. She saw Kai resurfacing—

_He fell in too? _she asked herself, trying not to laugh. She kicked her legs and her head popped out of the water. She started laughing instantly, almost choking.

"What?" he barked as he swam to the ladder and tried climbing out of the pool. He was wearing a thick sweater and it had gotten all wet. He was rather pissed but Forrest was laughing hysterically. "You're damn heavy."

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "That's not very nice."

"You better be able to go the length of the pool and back by next week. I'll check and if you don't, you're in trouble," he warned her. She sighed and nodded.

Her zipped-up jacket and t-shirt were both glued to her body, which made her rather uncomfortable when she got out of the pool. Her pair of jeans was hard and they had almost frosted because of the chilly air. She shivered and looked at her team captain.

"Do I at least get to finish practice early?" she asked hopefully.

"You wish," he said coolly as he launched his beyblade onto the grass.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Drying myself."

She watched with amazement as Dranzer rose into the air and batted its wings. A barely visible flame surrounded Kai and the boy sighed. Forrest could feel the temperature rise higher and she could see the boy's cheeks grow less pale. The frozen earth became muddy under his feet. She watched his clothes get dry. _Can Starlet do that?_

She wasn't going to try. The last time she tried something Kai did, she ended up swimming in the pool. She might burn herself if she wanted Starlet to dry her. Forrest knew that she didn't control her bitbeast well, which meant that Starlet wouldn't be able to control his powers well either.

He looked at her, standing there, lost in thoughts and he sighed.

"Come here," he mumbled. She did, but she wasn't looking at him.

As she felt a feeling of warmth sweeping over her, she looked up. A soft fire was around her but she could not feel the harm. It was a warming sensation and it felt great in the cold winter day. She sighed happily. She closed her eyes and let Dranzer work his magic. Soon enough she felt herself all warmed up, like nothing had happened. _Beyblading_ _is useful_, she thought. Several seconds later, her clothes were fully dried and her cheeks flushed a tomato red because of the warmness. She smiled sheepishly.

"Thanks, lots," she mumbled. He simply nodded as he bent down and called Dranzer. He picked up his blade from the ground.

"I've always wanted to ask you this," he started. "Did you ever hate me?"

She giggled vaguely. "If I ever hated you, I wouldn't have chosen this room. If I ever hated you, I would have moved out of here. I can't hate you, Kai. You're cold, mean and nearly heartless but I can't learn to hate you. It's hard to hate anyone. I have disliked you, like on the first day of school. I was so scared but when you told me that I could be your friend, that feeling just flew out the window. I don't think that I've hated anyone in my life."

He simply nodded and waved his hand, dismissing her. "You can go." She nodded and started making her way back to her room but she was stopped by his voice. "Do you want to … star gaze?"

"I thought that you'd never ask," she replied, her lips curling into a brilliant smile. Her eyes sparkled with delight and her hands were clasped in front of her chest, showing how long she'd been waiting for him to ask. She watched him nod and give something between a smile and a smirk. She laughed to herself.

* * *

It was rather peaceful that night. Forrest leaned against the tree and felt Kai's presence approaching. She grinned to herself but dared not to look at him. Her gaze was on the stars, on the Big Dipper. She lifted her arm and pointed to the North Star. 

"You don't believe in astrology, do you?" he asked, curiously as he sat down about two feet away from her..

"Do you think that I do?" she replied, chuckling.

"I hope not."

"Well, I don't. But I like star gazing," she told him with a soothing voice.

They haven't been star gazing for a long time. They've been avoiding each other for a while but both had to admit that they were content to be together, just looking at the stars.

The sounds of crickets were in the background. There was a dim light coming from a room upstairs, other than that, the area was lighted by the moon and stars. The surrounding was so familiar yet mysterious. It was only at night that Forrest truly enjoyed the outdoors. Lying on the grass, not caring how muddy it was, and staring straight into the dark skies, she could feel peace wash over her. She could feel the miseries being swept away. And Kai's presence helped, a lot.

"It's hard to believe that, half way around the world, people still see the same stars, only at different times. And that the moon doesn't actually give light, it reflects light. It's amazing, isn't it?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Hn."

Slowly, she felt herself dozing off. Her head slowly slid down to touch his shoulder and as it did, she jerked herself up from the contact.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I'm really tired."

"Then sleep," he whispered.

"Here?"

"If I know you, you'd rather sleep outside than in."

"You know me well, Kai," Forest said, grinning as she put her arms below her head to use as a pillow. "Night."

"Hn."

She knew that with Kai, there was nothing to worry about. He was there for her, whether physically there or not. She was just glad for that. _I wish that I had a brother who would care for me_, she thought before completely falling into dreamland.

His gaze stayed on the stars; he sighed several times and leaned against the trunk of an old tree. He looked at the person sleeping beside him, Forrest. She looked peaceful in her sleep, just like when she was awake but he noticed that she smiled. It was a genuine smile, which she rarely showed. He brought his knees to his chest and sat up. He felt a wind rush across the garden and then he felt a tingling sensation. He looked up to the sky and saw snowflakes falling from above, like little white angels that lost their wings. Forrest stirred slightly in her sleep and let out a moan. _She won't mind snow. I won't mind snow_, he thought as he looked back to the stars, pointing out each constellation one after another. But soon the snow became so abundant that when he lifted his head, he could only see white balls falling on him. He sighed and got up. _It is late_, he thought. _I'll give James a break_. His arm crept to her back and another under her knees. He lifted her up. _She's not light_, he thought as he slightly stumbled back into the house.

He mounted the stairs one by one slowly, sometimes pausing for a gasp of air. He didn't want to wake her up but what he's seen in movies wasn't easy at all. _How can those people carry women bridal style?_ he asked himself as he tried to open the double doors that led to her room. After several turns on the knob, he could hear a _click_ so he kicked the doors open.

Her room was messier than his; she didn't let the maids clean it. She only let Theresa touch her belongings. He went over to her bed and deposited her on it. His arms were rather numb so he swung them a little.

"Kai?"

He stayed quiet and walked away as softly as he could. He knew that she wasn't fully awake; in fact she wasn't even awake at all. He left the room without closing the doors, or else it would create too much noise. His eyes were closed and he let his instincts guide him to the room that he's been living in for over ten years.

He opened his eyes as he felt his legs kick against the soft material of his blanket. To his left was a soft light that shone every second or so. He let an annoyed groan and went to it, it was his cell phone. He opened it and called voice mail. After the process of entering his password, a high but sweet and familiar voice filled his ears.

"_Kai, we're coming back for a week. Your brother is turning 23 in fifteen days and we heard that he was engaged! We shall plan a party in his honor while your father goes to pick him up in Russia. See you soon."_

_He's engaged. He's **engaged**? And he didn't bother telling me? He called me the day before yesterday and he didn't bother to tell me? Such a great brother he is_, he thought as he scowled at nothing in particular. _I don't feel like celebrating._

_When do you ever feel like celebrating, Kai? _his mind asked him.

"Hn."

* * *

"Kai, sweetie," came a soft voice. He jerked himself up instantly and gave a silent sight. 

"Morning, mother," he groaned as he rubbed his eyes as he threw a look at his alarm clock. _Saturday, January 28th; 7:36._

"I believe that you rented the other room away. I opened the doors and found a girl sleeping on the bed," Kai's mom said.

"I did what you wanted me to do," he stated. _She didn't knock, well that's polite_, he thought.

"Good."

The woman had a slim figure. She was tall and elegant with blue-grey hair flowing to her waist. Her smile was rather fake. Her lips were thin and her nose was high. Her cheekbones stood up well. The woman's skin was a delicate shade of a creamy white, which made her look pale but very pretty. Her eyes were watery and were a dark amethyst color. She walked around in the room, looking at its changes since she last came to Japan.

"So what's the girl's name?" she asked.

"Forrest Fan, or Laura Fan," he answered as he strolled to the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Meanwhile, the lady took a seat on Kai's bed and waited for her son to get ready.

Kai looked at himself in the mirror and rolled his eyes. _Now I have my mother to cope with, not mentioning my brother and father are coming later on. I don't think that mom will like Forrest at all_, he thought, knowing that his mom was very selective about the people whom he hung out with, especially the girls. His mother had approved of Felicia, but not many females other than her. _I just hope that Voltaire won't come_.

He roughly put on a baggy silver T-shirt and black cargo pants and ran his fingers through his stuck-up hair. He then brushed his teeth quickly.

"Kai, you've grown!" her mother exclaimed as he came out of the bathroom. "You're almost as tall as your father now."

"Great," he muttered, hoping that he didn't sound sarcastic. His mother wasn't the kind of woman who enjoyed sarcasm and humor. She liked sophisticated discussions.

Kai politely gestured his mother to follow him to the dinner table for a quick breakfast. To his misfortune, they met Forrest along the way. Her hair was messy, strands sticking out in random places, plus her hair were highlighted, and he knew that his mother hated people with dyed hair. She considered them fake. But Anna Black was faker than anyone that Kai knew; he was pretty sure that his mother hadone plastic surgeries.

"Morning," Forrest mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. "And may I ask, who are you?"

_That wasn't exactly impolite_, he thought, hoping that his mother approved of Forrest.

"Kai's mother. My name is Anna Black, born in Russia, and I heard that you were Forrest Fan," Kai's mom said with a soft voice.

"Honored to meet you," Forrest replied, sticking her arm out.

She watched the older woman look at her hand like she was examining if it was dirty. Then after a few seconds, Anna Black, or Mrs. Hiwatari, shook her hand with an uneasy expression on her face.

"I know the last name Fan," Anna started. "I've met Jacqueline Fan before, a quite fine young lady."

"Why thank you, she's my cousin," Forrest replied as she started making her way down the stairs, her long sleeping robe flowing after her.

Kai just watched the scene in the silence, unsure of what to say. _Does she like Forrest? Or will I have to find a new house-mate?_ he asked himself, unsure. Kai knew that his mother wasn't the person who would tell anyone that she disliked them. She would backstab them and torture their lives secretly. And by the way that Anna had shook Forrest's hand; Kai could tell that his mother had a slight dislike in Forrest. The girl wasn't very clean. Not that he minded, but it seems that his mom did.

"So do you cook?" Anna asked.

"Cook?" Forrest replied, chuckling. "Anyone can pop things in the microwave and toaster!" the girl exclaimed.

Kai watched his mother frown, which meant that she didn't like what she just heard.

Forrest looked at the two Hiwataris and sighed. Anna's face was filled with a disappointed look.

"I can cook, Mrs. Hiwatari. I can cook Chinese food and some Italian," Forrest said, correcting her mistake earlier.

"Italian?" Anna asked, interested. "And please call me by Ms. Black."

_Why would she liked to called by her maiden name? That's odd. Is she unhappy with her marriage?_ Forrest asked herself, but she shook her head to herself. _Stop worrying about others, Forrest_.

They made their ways to the dinner table and all of them sat down. Kai sat with his mother on one side while Forrest sat across from Kai.

"Pizzas are quite easy to make," Forrest said, chuckling. But as she saw Anna's eyebrows coming down to a frown again, she sighed. "I was just kidding. Theresa, my assistant, has taught me about a recipe that she knows. Very good spaghetti sauce, maybe you can try it one time."

Anna gave a quick and apprehensive nod before several maids came in and served a full Japanese breakfast. Forrest looked at the mood and gulped. She never ate most of the things on the table; she had no clue what they tasted like, or if some were supposed to be eaten in a special way. She gritted her teeth.

"Well, I think that they say 'dig in'," Anna said, laughing at herself.

"Right," Forrest mumbled as she held her chopsticks and picked up a slice of cucumber and munched on it slowly.

Placed in front of her was a tray with a bowl of soup, a cup of black liquid, which she thought was tea, a small bowl with some pink things in there, which she had no idea about, a bowl of rice, and a plate with things like a yellow round piece things, red sticks and cucumber slices. And then at the top of the tray was a slice of what seemed like cooked salmon and some kind of bread, or tofu, she couldn't tell She grimaced. _At least I recognized the cucumber_, she thought. She ate slowly to watch the Hiwataris, hoping that she could understand how to eat that Japanese food.

"So your mother was Japanese," Anna started, as she drank some of the black liquid.

"Yes," Forrest simply replied as she took the cup and drank some of the black liquid herself. "Gaah," she muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?" Anna said. "I didn't' catch that last bit."

"Nothing…," Forrest mumbled back as she took small sips of the very bitter tea.

The liquid didn't taste like tea at all, or so she thought. _It tastes like some kind of herbal medicine, are they trying to kill me?_ she asked herself as she watched Kai eat some rice with the red sticks. She copied him unwillingly. She had no clue after all and it seemed like Kai knew what he was doing. As she chewed on the red stick, she scooped some rice into her mouth. It was practically tasteless. _Screw this_, she thought as she suddenly got up and walked to the kitchen.

"Forrest? What's wrong?" Theresa asked.

"Omelet time, I can't stand that food," she whispered to her assistant. The older woman chuckled and nodded.

"I'll prepare that for you, just wait outside."

Forrest sighed, she'd rather be with Theresa than with the Hiwataris; actually she would prefer almost anything than to be with the Hiwataris at that moment. But she had no choice.

"The Japanese food is not of your taste?" Anna Black-Hiwatari inquired.

"No, no, it's quite good. I just feel like eating something more… tasty," she said.

"Ah," Anna turned her attention to Kai. "So like I was saying, your brother should arrive sometime late tonight with his fiancée, isn't it just exciting? They're getting married when he's graduating. He met her in Russia, she works as a pediatrician. Isn't that lovely?"

"Yes, mother," he replied flatly. "Just _lovely_." Fortunately for him, Forrest was the only one who noticed his sarcasm.

"So what's your brother's name?" Forrest asked, curious.

"Jake Hiwatari," Anna replied for Kai. "He's graduating from college. You'll meet him. You _should _meet him," she added.

Forrest frowned at the reply. _Is she implying that she won't let me see her son? That's odd_, she thought. _Did I do something wrong?_ Just then, Theresa stepped out with a plate in her hands.

"Thanks," the girl told the woman. "Mhmm."

The girl lowered her head to eat her omelet so she did not notice Anna Hiwatari scowl at her. Kai rolled his eyes at his mother. _I guess that she doesn't like Forrest. This is going to get complicated_, he thought as he drank the last drops of his bitter but expensive tea.

His brother was to stay from the 29th of January to the 6th of Febuary, which was also, the first day of the tournament.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I know what you're thinking. What am I going to do with Kai's mom? Nothing that you expect, she's just a person, nothing more; in other words, if you can't figure her out, just ignore her. But if you get it, huzzah and you'll have fun reading through Kai's tortured life. 


	16. Tying the Knot

_In the beginning, we cut the red ribbon in two._

_But now, when we need it the most, will we able to tie the loose ends, _

* * *

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 16: Tying the Knot**

* * *

It didn't take long for Forrest to notice the scowls that Mrs. Hiwatari was giving her. She constantly sighed and rolled her eyes to herself as she propped herself against her soft armchair and tried to read Macbeth, which was assigned by the English teacher. She knew better than to disturb Kai to help her with her Japanese work, so she did her other homework first. She rubbed her eyes roughly and blew some hair out of her view. She leaned down unconsciously and she felt gravity take over.

_Oh shit_, she thought before a crash was heard and Theresa came rushing in the room. She rubbed her head furiously and gave a growl.

"See? How could you let someone like _her_ reside in this house, son?" came a harsh voice.

"She was just being careless for a moment, it's not like she broke anything—"

"I don't care about materialistic things or anything related to money, Kai!"

_Yeah right you don't, then why did yell at me for renting that room away three thousand less yens (1)that I should have?_ He wanted to rebuke back but he knew that he shouldn't, it would cause much more trouble.

Kai knew his mother well, she wasn't perfect but she was knowledgeable, pretty, and elegant. The only thing that she was missing was a calm temper to be the perfect mother and wife. And most of all, she wouldn't admit that she loved money and spending it mostly.

"So as I was saying," she started again. Kai just looked in her direction for politeness. "We're inviting very high class people here, unless you count your brother's dear old _friends_ and personally none of your schoolmates will be invited either, expect for that dear lady that I've met before. This is a private little dinner."

"Yes, mother, I understand," he replied, dully.

"And make sure that _she_ doesn't disturb either. It will be perfect; it has to be perfect for your brother. You'll understand when you become engaged yourself, honey," she said sweetly.

"I guess that I will," he paused and an awkward silence hung. "Excuse me, mom, I should do some school work," he mumbled as he pushed himself up from the couch in the lounge.

"Yes, yes, keep yourself busy in academics! You'll achieve great things!"

_Apparently there's no chance that she'll accept beyblading as my choice of career_, he thought as he strolled to the study room without any further words.

* * *

"Your own mother wouldn't allow you to invite your friends to a party?" a voice exclaimed, sounding rather surprised.

"Don't remind me of that," Kai muttered. "So why are you here?"

"I was searching for a quick talk," the red-head rolled his eyes, "but apparently this isn't the greatest timing."

"Spill, Tala," Kai spat.

"Voltaire wants a new beyblading team," he said, simply.

"And may I ask why did my _dear_ grandfather tell you before telling his grandson?" Kai inquired. Tala noticed the sarcasm in his friend's voice.

"You did betray him last time," Tala stated.

"And since when did you know this?"

"Since I came here… but then again, you were busy. And I was busy, too."

"Busy?" he raised his eyebrow, "busy doing what, exactly?"

The red-head rolled his eyes slowly.

"Top secret things?" Kai answered for him. Tala shrugged and propped himself against the couch. "Right and I'll pretend that you're not here," he continued as he turned attention to the computer screen.

"Suit yourself. Just tell him the answer when he gets here."

"He's coming here?" Kai asked, not looking at Tala.

"Your brother's party," Tala said slowly, giving the expression that it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And how do you know about that?"

"Connections, you know," Tala shrugged as he played with the remote control.

Both heard a knock on the open door, Kai turned his head and looked at the intruder.

"Um, Kai? I'm completely stuck and Theresa just ran off," came a voice.

Forrest stepped in the room wearing a very loose t-shirt and khaki pants. She had a stack of paper in her hands and handed them to Kai so that he could proofread her Japanese homework.

"Forrest? Ah yes, just the person who I was looking for," Tala said.

"You were looking for _me_?" Forrest inquired, raising an eyebrow with an exaggerated surprised expression on her face.

"I wanted to ask you about your friend," he started.

"My friend?"

"At least I think that she's your friend. You don't have many friends anyway," Forrest scowled at Tala as he spoke. "Shayna Tanaka."

"Oh right," Forrest mumbled as she took a seat on the couch, far away from Tala. "What about her?"

"What does she like?" he asked, interested.

"Music," she said, but he rolled his eyes; he already knew that, "skateboarding, reading, arts and I just found that she's quite good at Chinese checkers." Tala raised his eyebrow slightly and smirked, showing his perfect dimples.

"What does she hate?" he asked.

"Illogical people, jerks, morons, sexist or people with prejudice against others and typical stuff…," Forrest trailed off. "Why?"

Tala gave an infamous smirk and shrugged. "I asked her out."

Forrest snorted and rolled her eyes. "I feel bad for Shayna, you're worse than Kai." At that, the blue haired Russian boy turned his attention to the two.

"Excuse me? I heard my name," Kai inquired as he glared at Forrest.

"Nothing, nothing. Go back at correcting that essay, thanks," she muttered as she sent him a glare back.

"What do you mean I'm worse than him?"

"Well you guys aren't exactly the nicest people around," Forrest shrugged as she sighed. "But then again if Shayna accepted, you must have some kind of a good personality. But unfortunately I haven't noticed it yet."

"Look beyond the cover," Tala said, simply.

"I have and I don't see anything good," Forrest replied, as she gave a quick yawn.

"You're not looking deep enough."

For some reason, that sentence lingered in her thoughts for the whole week. _I've heard that sentence before…_

* * *

**_Two weeks later…_**

The party that was organized for Kai's brother was very formal. People were dressed in fancy dresses with many layers, men wore suits or tuxes. Most of them looked ridiculous to Forrest's eyes but then again, she wasn't there to judge them. She wasn't even _invited _to a party that went on in the house that she _lived_ in. _This is stupid_, she thought. _I don't want to go there anyway, hn._ But it was impossible to not hear the light chatters flowing in the house. They were sophisticated conversations and Forrest groaned as she flipped a page of her book.

"Ouch!"

Her finger was slit a little and it started bleeding. _Paper cut, ergh_, she thought as she quickly went to the bathroom to find a band-aid. But no luck. None at all. She slowly opened the double doors that led to the hallway and waltz out slowly, inspecting her entourage with care. Not far from her door stood two people, side by side, holding a normal conversation. It was a guy and a girl, both about her age.

"Hiwatari?" she inquired.

"—I haven't met her yet but I've heard enough of my brother's praises—yes?" he raised his delicate eyebrows.

He was dressed in a dark grey suit, matching his hair; his inner white shirt's top buttons were left unbuttoned which gave him a young-but-serious-and-mature look. He wore no tie or bow around his neck. He looked good. _Very good_.

"Compliments on the dark suit, is it Bloomingdales?" she asked casually.

"Blooming-what?"

"Bloomingdales, Kai. Widely known store, you know," the person beside him added.

The lady beside him wore a well-fitting royal blue dress that faded to a very light blue at the bottom. It was half-backless, a little lacy and very vintage looking. The bottom of the dress rippled as it reached the ground. Her hair was curled and let loose carelessly on the side; some were dripped over her shoulder while others went down her half-naked back. She was beautiful. There seemed to be a glowing aura around her giving her an air of innocence and beauty at the same time. Her eyes were accented with blue eye shadow that brought up the color of her dark blue hair and dress. She was like the night sky, so beautiful to look at and so soothing.

"Felicia…," Forrest was speechless, "you're… gorgeous."

"Thanks," the girl replied, smiling widely. "I don't know why but I was invited and we were supposed to stand by your door." Kai scowled at her. "Oops, I just told too much," she gave a light giggle. Forrest cocked an eyebrow and chuckled.

"No one trusts me around here, oh well. I just need some band-aid."

"Band-aid? What's that?" Felicia inquired while Kai just shrugged.

"Err," Forrest showed her cut finger.

"Oh, _that_, here you go," Felicia replied after she fondled in her tiny purse and retrieved a piece of band-aid. "Always carry one around, quite useful."

"Thank you," Forrest mumbled as she blushed crimson. _She's so thoughtful_.

"Go back in your room," Kai said simply. Forrest mouthed a 'huh'. "Mother's orders. Not sure why."

"Well, I know why, Kai. And personally, I don't even _want _to be part of this fancy party. Good night," she spun around, losing her temper quickly and slammed the double doors behind her as she stomped back into her room, holding the band-aid tight in her hand.

_They don't want me. Too bad. I don't want them either_, she fumed as she wrapped the tiny bandage around her injured finger.

Outside the room, Kai and Felicia stood near the door, looking down into the sitting room that was half-crowded with gentlemen in penguin suits and some ladies who wore dresses prettier than Felicia's and chandelier earrings that were probably worth more than the plasma TV sitting in the room.

"It looks like someone is going to have a speech," Felicia commented.

"Probably my brother. Let's go," he didn't want for another second to descend the stairs carefully, not destroying the decorations that hung on the sides of the staircase. Felicia followed silently. She was quite confused.

Kai was right; it was his brother who began to give a speech.

"Ladies," he paused, "and gentlemen," he nodded to several people who just arrived. "Old friends and new," he smiled widely while Kai frowned slightly, "and my dear family. Tonight is my engagement party and with no further ado, here's my beautiful fiancée!"

She stepped to some sort of temporary stage in the middle of the big room, it seemed like the spotlight was on her. Her dress was a very light pink that resembled white and her make-up was also of a similar color. Her figure was slim and tall; she was less than one head shorter than Jake Hiwatari himself. When she smiled, white bleached teeth were shown, contrasting with her tanned skin. Silky light brown curls fell on her naked shoulders and she wore her ring on her forth finger with pride. Kai could see why his mother had liked the girl so much; his brother's fiancée was almost like his mother. Almost like a clone, minus the dark skin and the brown hair. Even her grin resembled his mother's. He shivered at the thought.

"Good evening, friends, family," she gave a sweet-sounding chuckle, "well, you know the routine."

Almost everyone in the room gave a quick laugh in response.

"I'm Caeline Hovk, Jake's fiancée," Kai almost snorted because the woman added a faint "y" to his brother's name.

_Jakey._ _Yes, Jakey_, he smirked.

"I'm no great public speaker so I will stop my very short speech here. I wish to talk to each one of you individually and thank you so much for coming!"

"That was a silly speech," Felicia commented, "even I would have done better."

"Well, we'll see at your engagement party, won't we?" he replied casually but as he turned his gaze on Felicia's face, he bit his bottom lip. Felicia was blushing furiously.

_What is wrong with girls and talking about engagements and weddings?_ he asked himself, confused.

The evening past slowly, as eight o'clock came, Forrest dressed herself casually and made her way out of the house from her perched balcony. She landed on her butt and gave an annoyed groan. _At least this is the last family meeting_, she thought as she made her way to the streets and called a cab to go to Jacqueline's.

"I'll see you tomorrow, oh-brilliant-tournament."

* * *

He felt a light tap on his shoulder and even before he turned around to look at the person, he already had a bad feeling. _Voltaire…_

And unsurprisingly enough, it was his grandfather.

"Kai, I've much need to speak with you," the old man started, leaning on his cane, acting weak.

"Excuse me, I'm busy," the Russian boy ignored his elder and turned his attention back to his dinner.

"No, _immediately_ and no buts… unless, of course, you completely agree to the terms that I've offered."

"What terms?" Kai asked, annoyed.

"You seem interested," Voltaire replied, smiling sinisterly.

"Right," he muttered, "be right back," he added Felicia and the rest of his family.

He carefully placed the heavy wooden chair back into its spot and frowned at his grandfather.

"So…"

"I believe that Mr. Valkov has informed you of everything."

"Tala? He told me that you wanted to join your team. Is that everything? If so, There is no way and I'll go back to my food," Kai replied, determined of his decision.

"Don't be stubborn, Kai. You'll see the power of my new team."

"Oh please. Your plan of taking over the world is _so _cheesy."

"I've changed my plans, Kai. I no longer desire power. I desire influence."

"There is no difference between those two words… when it comes from you."

"Reconsider, Kai. You know that it's for the better. Remember all those training… you know what you have to do. Beyblading is far from a game now. Every match in this tournament will lead to the fight of the century in the finals and you'll stand there, on the side, watching my team take away the trophy. Don't you wish that you were a winner?"

Without a single word in reply, Kai turned around and got back in his chair. He turned his head to look at his grandfather in the eyes.

"I prefer to give up beyblading rather than to have to do anything with _you_," he spat.

"So that's your decision. I guess that this world changed… one cannot depend on his family anymore. You've made a grave mistake, Kai."

"Fuck off!" he roared as his grandfather touched the last of his nerves.

All the chattering noises stopped one after another. The mansion soon was filled with mutterings and whispers. Kai walked away, making sure that his chair was toppled over. His mother was too embarrassed to call her son back. Jake Hiwatari merely smirked while his fiancée looked horrified. Felicia was more than amused by Kai's rude comment.

The double doors that led to his room were slammed shut.

Voltaire set off furiously, ignoring the stares of his daughter.

* * *

"Fellow Beybladers!" he cried into the microphone, his voice ringing through the big beyblade battle dome. The red bandana around his head matched the red clothing that he wore with the official sign of the BBA on it. "Welcome to a very special event in the beyblading history!" his voice faded a little. "Winning teams from all over Asia and other recognized teams have been invited here for the biggest battles of a life time! This is a special Asian tournament!"

There were two big screens in the dome; one for every half of the dome. The spectators' attention went to the screens that showed the name of every team invited to the tournament.

"Here is the Astral Spirits team from the famous Abbott academy from India! They blade with extreme speed, dodging almost every attack. Their bitbeasts are a representation of themselves, hence 'astral'. They are also winner of the South Asian tournament last year!"

A group of five people stepped forward and the audience clapped before they stepped back and the host went on.

"The Beethovens, from the Philippines. Their musical talents give their bitbeasts a boost. A round of applause, please, for this team who placed third in the Asian tournament two years ago!"

A group of four people stepped forward, Forrest noticed that one of them had a guitar strapped to his back.

"The Bladebreakers!" Forrest felt her heart beating crazily against her chest. "Last year's world champion team! They control many kinds of attacks and are fierce in battle!"

A round of applause was heard around the stadium mixed with some cat calls and silly whistles. Forrest looked beside her and noticed Kai completely bored as she was flushed. He wore his infamous white scarf, sleeveless black shirt, baggy navy pants and a silver wolf-head belt around his waist. Next to him was Ray, wearing his Chinese style white-blue-and-yellow costume; Forrest wondered how he could be comfortable in those. Max wore orange long-sleeve shirt with bright green details on it and beige capris. Tyson wore his usual yellow-and-red outfit with his signature hat and ponytail. Kenny, who was holding on his laptop, wore a white shirt with a dark green tie and navy jeans. They all stepped back.

"The Corsellas, a group of young ladies that blade with style and second runner-up in the South Asian tournament!"

Five girls who looked a little older than Forrest stepped to the center of the stadium, waving courteously to the crowd. They all wore some sort of long and silky Chinese qi-paos.

"Dreams of Eden! A new but very remarkable team, they haven't lost a match yet!"

A group consisting of three boys and two girls stepped out. Forrest watched the process go on and leaned against the wall carelessly.

There was about 60 teams invited and each team took about half a minute to introduce.

Time passed by and the announcement ended with:

"The White Tigers from China, second in last year's Asian tournament!"

She shot her head towards the other side of the stadium, where the White Tigers were. Mariah was in the team along with some people whom she never met. She grinned. _I've watched them in battle before_, she thought.

"We will start the first round today! Let's scramble the teams and see who's up first!"

Forrest watched the big screen hanging in the air as the name of two teams appeared.

"Corsellas against Slayers!"

_Satomi…_, Forrest thought as she gave a soft sigh.

She tensed up as she saw her friend Satomi and her other team mates make towards the beyblading dish. The captains of both teams shook their hands.

Meanwhile, the other teams made their way to sit along with the spectators. Forrest climbed the stairs last and took a seat in the front row between Kenny and Max.

"It looks like the teams have chosen their teammates to battle! Up first are… Annalie from the Corsellas against Satomi from the Slayers!" Forrest grinned.

"Go Satomi!" she cheered along the other spectators; she was no different from the others.

Both opponents stepped to the center of the dish and positioned themselves for the launch. The normal silver dish had been redesigned to what seemed like something that came out of a painting. It was a landscape including water, grass, flowers, mountains, and etc. But neither Satomi or Annalie took notice of the dish.

"3, 2, 1, let it riiipppp!" the host screamed into his microphone.

The two blades were launched and collided several times in mid-air before landing in the dish. They went to separate sides and started to dodge each other's attacks. Satomi's blade spun on the grassed area, chopping off some of the vegetation while her opponent's blade was on the shoreline.

"Artemis, meteor shower!"

Some animal that resembled a lynx rose above from the blade. Its shining fur coat glimmered under the light.

"You groomed you bitbeast?" Satomi mocked.

Without giving back a response, Annalie ordered her bitbeast to dodge some attacks. Slowly, it started to glow. Satomi noticed something falling from the ceiling. It was raining stars. Literally. Raining stars.

"Galopsus, dodge them!" Satomi cried as she saw her bitbeast in trouble.

The burning stars were easy to dodge at first but the fall of them became so abundant that every part of the dish was covered by them. The grass-covered ground became ablaze; only the pond of the landscape stayed intact.

"Those stars are _hot_," Annalie said, sweetly.

"My attacks are _hotter_."

Obeying her master, Galopsus appeared. She was a horned horse. Her color was something between gold and bronze, making her look like a statue of some sort. Galopsus's mane danced in the wind and its air of elegance was obvious.

"Your bitbeast is a unicorn? I love unicorns!" Annalie exclaimed dramatically childishly.

"I do too, dear, I do too," Satomi said while rolling her eyes.

The so-called unicorn charged towards her opponent several times to lead it near the water.

_I see where this is going_, Forrest thought as she watched from the audience's point of view. Soon enough, what she'd predicted became true. Galopsus's horn shone and sparks of electricity came out of it. It seemed like Galopsus bowed down so that her horn touched the water, transferring the electricity across the whole artificial lake.

"Clever," Annalie mumbled. "Let's see if we'll see the constellations tonight, alright?"

"What?" Satomi exclaimed, shocked. She frowned and scratched her forehead nervously.

The answer came quick enough as the setting of the whole beyblade dish switched. There were no more advantages to Satomi; everything turned into nothingness. It seemed like the blades were just… spinning in mid-air.

"No more of your elemental advantages!" Annalie exclaimed.

"Fine," Satomi rolled her eyes. "Thunder outrage!"

As sparks appeared around Galopsus's horn, stars started glowing and they sucked the energy away. Slowly, the light coming from the bitbeast disappeared and the stars shone a little brighter.

"What the—"

"Meteor shower!"

The attack was much stronger because Galopsus had boosted the power of the stars with her electricity. Satomi took a step back and beads of sweat glided down her forehead.

"They suck all attacks away," she stated.

"But not physical ones," Satomi said, flatly. Galopsus growled loudly and charged with all her strength towards her opponent.

The two blades collided against each other, pushing each other head to head like two stags battling with their antlers. Galopsus gave an angry growl and anchored her body on the dish. Artemis couldn't push further. Galopsus made a sudden move back and then charged forward forcefully.

The match stopped as Annalie's blade flew out of the illusion-ized dish. Most of the spectators gave an 'oooh' and Satomi grinned.

"That was a great match," Annalie said, smiling.

"Ditto that to you."

Satomi glanced around at the audience, it felt great to win. She stretched her hand forward and Galopsus, who was still spinning, landed on her hand. She grasped her beyblade tightly. Satomi strolled back to her team with a proud grin on face.

"That was just the first match, don't be over-confident," a guy with sandy brown hair and auburn eyes said.

"You're such a fucking kill joy, Kata," Satomi stated as she walked over to the bench and sat down straight away..

"But I'm a good captain," he retorted coldly.

"Just shut up," another boy mumbled as he straightened his cloak. His eyes were hidden from view and his cloak seemed three sizes too big for him.

"Dude, it's fucking hot here. Take off that cloak, it makes you look fucking retarded," Satomi groaned as she fanned herself with her hands.

"Satomi, why do you have to talk so much?" a soft but piercing voice came.

"You don't talk enough, Lyn. I don't understand you," Satomi stated flatly.

A round of applause rang through the stadium as a young lady wearing a magenta silk Chinese dress stepped to the dish. Her hair was held up in a bun with two chopsticks and a warm smile graced her lips. Her launcher was a color of magenta, too, and she positioned herself, waiting for her opponent to arrive.

"Why are we a team again? Remind me," the cloaked boy asked as he stood up from the bench and walked to the dish; it was his turn to blade.

"We aren't a team. We're just individuals grouped together to participate in this tournament that took me two weeks to get an invitation from, Kazu. And you better win this."

The cloaked figure, or so-called Kazu, seemed like he glided to the dish. Satomi shivered at the thought.

"2nd match of the Corsellas versus the Slayers! 3, 2, 1… let it rip!"

The lady launched her blade first and it landed gracefully into a dish. This time, it was a normal silver dish except for the magnetic field in the center of it. Kazu's blade was launched from somewhere inside his cloak. The crowd could not tell exactly where.

"He pisses me off," Satomi gritted between her teeth, "too fucking mysterious."

"And what's your problem with the word 'fucking'?" Pierce Kata inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Why do you fucking care?" she barked, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry that I asked," he spat as he turned around and looked back at the battle.

The match lasted quite a while because most of Kazu's attacks were banned in the first few rounds because it damaged the player. But nevertheless, the boy had a strong defense and slowly took his opponent down with some tricks hidden in his cloak. His grin broadened and white teeth were shown, contrasting with his dark figure.

"Good match," his opponent stated with a high but soothing voice. Something about that girl made him respect her.

"Yes, great match," he repeated as he gave a quick nod to her and _glided_ back to his team.

"You almost lost, you know," Pierce said apathetically.

"Would it actually matter?" Kazu asked, shrugging.

"Nope."

"All right, folks! The winner is the Slayers winning 2 out of 3 matches. The next match will be…," the host paused as he watched the computer making a random selection on the screen. "The Mariners against the Sky Gliders!"

* * *

Forrest gave a heavy sigh and tapped on Kenny's shoulder.

"Should we leave? We're probably not gonna play today. There's only two more matches," she grumbled.

"You can leave. I've nothing better to do, right, Dizzi?" the brown haired boy replied casually. The laptop gave an approval.

"Okay," Forrest mumbled.

As she walked lazily down the stairs to the waiting rooms, she suddenly realized that someone had left too. _Kai… how can he be so discreet?_ The boy's seat beside Tyson has been left empty and unnoticed. She gave an annoyed grunt.

In the corner of the room stood two figures, one leaning on the wall and another one leaning on what seemed like a cane.

"We'll have no problems with this tournament, or so-called tournament. I don't really consider this a real tournament," one said.

"Just because there are no evil grandfathers trying to take over the world doesn't mean that this won't be a challenge, Kai. There are some very talented teams here," the other one said.

Forrest frowned as she tried to recognize the other voice. She's heard it once or twice somewhere… _somewhere_. She rolled her eyes to herself as she stepped into the waiting room to see the two males closer. The one leaning against the wall was Kai, but she already knew that.

"Mr. Dickenson!" Forrest exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Aren't you too busy?"

"Well, I wouldn't be too busy for my tournament would I?" the old man gave a warm chuckle.

Forrest frowned. "Kai, you should respect Mr. Dickenson's choices. If he thinks that the teams are worthy to be invited he must have a really good reason. Stop being so… anti-everything," she gave him a quick glare.

The Russian boy merely shrugged and mumbled: "I was just telling the truth". There was a short moment of silence.

"And the match goes to the Sky Gliders bringing it to 1 to 1!" the announcer exclaimed.

Mr. Dickenson's face brightened up and he chuckled lightly. "Well, kids, I'll leave you to have fun but I need to watch this match!"

Forrest watched the old man leave slowly. _He seemed to have gotten a lot older since I first saw him on the news_, she thought. She unconsciously let her eyes wander on the figure of the Russian boy. _There was something that I wanted to ask him… _

"Oh yes, Kai, can you let me beyblade in the semi-finals? I know that you don't want me to play in the finals but I think that it's only fair if—"

"_Yes_, alright," he grunted and propped himself once again against the walls.  
"Oh, right," she blinked to herself, thinking that it would be much harder to convince him. "I have some good news, I think. My beyblade can spin from one of the pool to the other."

"Good," he said simply, "I'll verify that tonight."

He moved from his spot slowly, every action of his seemed graceful to her. His white scarf flowed after him as he walked outside of the waiting room.

"I suggest that you study the tactics of the teams, especially the Slayers, I've got a bad feeling about them," he said before he shut the door with a click.

She grumbled some nonsense under her breath and followed his footstep. She was in no mood to speak to anyone at the moment.

At the dish were two magnificent bitbeast fighting each other. One was a small and agile hummingbird that was of a shade of a beautiful green while the other was a ferocious octopus with its eight legs busy trying to catch the little bird. The hummingbird wasn't even close to the octopus's size but the bird was very clever; it flew around so that three of the octopus's "legs" were entangled and it seemed like it was giggling because it emitted sound kind of a happy sounding humming.

"Typhoon!"

A tornado appeared, as fast as the hummingbird's quick movements, and swept across the dish. The two blades were already very weak; both wobbled and it was a rather long match. The octopus tried to attack the hummingbird but it was hard because the creature was so small and agile. The tornado hit the octopus and sent the blade flying towards its owner. As soon as the match terminated, the hummingbird returned to its chip; it was exhausted.

"2 to 1 for the Sky Gliders! That was a terrific match!" the host announced with awe, "next match will be…," all the attention of the crowd turned to the two screens hanging in mid-air, "the Weather Girls against the Bladebreakers!"

Forrest frowned, she thought that they wouldn't have to battle on the first day because it was the last match anyway. But she was wrong; she was always wrong. She sighed and made her way to the benches. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the crowds cheering and she blushed furiously.

"Three minutes for the teams to choose their players!" the host said into the microphone.

Forrest bit her nails nervously and glanced at her teammates. Kai sat on the bench with his arms folded. Ray stood near the bench and glanced into the crowd. Max and Tyson were doing rock-paper-scissors to decide who was going last. Max groaned as he lost.

"Alright, I'm second then," the boy said.

"How come I don't get to choose?" Forrest asked, rolling her eyes.

"Well, we all thought that if you went first… then we'd catch up if you know…" Kenny started.

"If I lost. Gee, thanks," she grumbled as she walked towards the dish. The three minutes were almost up and the worst was that her team didn't even believe in her. _So if I lose, they'll have a chance to prepare to win twice, but I won't lose._ _I'll show them!_

"It seems like the first match will be between Forrest and Spring!"

Forrest nodded to herself and bended her knees a little. _Relax…_

"3!" Forrest relaxed her shoulders, "2!" she gripped on her ripcord, "1! Let it rip!"

She pulled on the cord forcefully and watched her blade being launched into the air and colliding with her opponent's before landing in the normal silver dish.

"Veezula, let's fill this dish with vegetation!"

Forrest frowned. _Vegetation?_

* * *

_(1) _from what I know about Japanese money, 3000 yens is a _pretty small _amount of money … the rent there is very high and besides, for someone like Voltaire's child, it should be a very small amount of money

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Cliffie. Yeah. Next chapter will be much shorter. 


	17. Not Equally Created

**Author's Notes: **Short chapter. Sorry.

Unless I really have nothing to do, this is the last chapter before Christmas so consider this a Xmas gift (:

* * *

**Disclaimer: **Chase is AnimeGirl329's character. Otherwise you know the routine.

* * *

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 17: Not Equally Created

* * *

**

"Veeluza, let's fill this dish with vegetation!"

Forrest frowned. _Vegetation? _"Starlet, dodge whatever is coming at you!" Forrest screamed immediately. _I sense trouble_.

About three dozen of vines were shot from Forrest's opponent's beyblade. The center of the blade glowed a strong light and Forrest narrowed her eyes at the brightness. Starlet was barely keeping up.

It seemed like it was raining flowers. They filled the dish quickly and it became hard for Starlet to even keep spinning. But the other blade seemed to have no difficulty in keeping up.

_Come on… speed, remember the pool, Starlet. Just like that… just like walking on water. Walk on the damn flowers_, Forrest closed her eyes and pictured Kai's blue blade sprint across the pool with amazing speed. _Yes, just like that_.

Soon, Starlet seemed to be gliding on the surface of flowers just like Veezula was.

"Let's burn your vegetation, shall we?" Forrest asked in a mocking voice.

"Like you could," her opponent replied. "Veezula, show yourself! And let them admire your power!"

There was a beam of light and the stadium was filled with a sweet fragrance, coming from the beast. It was… a dragonfly. Forrest merely snorted. It was tiny compared to other bitbeasts but it seemed to hold much power. Indeed, too much power for the little beast so it grew in size.

"So… spring, huh? Starlet, fire tornado!"

The two bitbeasts battled against each other. Veezula, encircled by vines, charged towards Starlet, in the form of a lion, encircled by flame.

As Starlet put up with his opponent, Forrest quickly turned around and looked at Kenny, who was typing really fast and trying to get some information from Dizzi.

"You've got anything?"

"Nothing other than… watch out for her Millennium Vines attack," Kenny remarked as he quickly scanned the screen.

"Yes definitely," Dizzi added, "the attack lives up to its name."

As Forrest turned her head around, she heard her opponent cry: "Veezula! It's time for the Millennium Vines!" Forrest smacked her head hard and panicked.

"Hey, don't hurt yourself. My attack is going to hurt you enough," Spring mocked.

"Starlet, fire tornado!" Forrest ordered, ignoring the Weather Girl.

Exactly a three dozen vines were thrown at Starlet, the poor bitbeast dodged merely two and then he shot a spiral of fire at them. About two dozens were destroyed but they kept coming. It looked like Starlet was playing jump rope as he tried to dodge the attacks.

Then, Starlet tripped and Forrest fell on her knees. A vine hit the lion forcefully, throwing the blade into thin air. The host was ready to declare the match a win for the Weather Girls but the crowd cheered on. Forrest took the time to quickly get up. She was leaning forward to get a better look of the match and helped Starlet all she could.

"Bladebreakers!" came from one side of the crowd. "Weather Girls!" came from the other.

Forrest closed her eyes quickly. "Starlet, you know what to do!"

Sure enough, the bitbeast immediately shot a tornado of fire at the vines as he was upside down. Forrest's hands curled into balls and she bit her bottom lip. _Come on, take all the energy. I want to prove myself worthy_, she urged Starlet.

The tornado became bigger and fiercer. Heat surrounded the stadium and Forrest swept away some beads of sweat gliding down her forehead.

Starlet fell into the vortex of fire…

The smell of burnt objects stayed in the stadium. The host, DJ Jazzman, coughed into the microphone and waited for all the smoke to disappear. "Wow, great comeback there, newbie!"

Forrest glared at the host and fumed on. _Newbie? Sure. I'm a newbie alright_…

"You forgot about my attack," Spring said, "it doesn't stop until all the vines are unleashed."

"Shit," Forrest muttered, not so loud because she remembered Kai's advice. "Starlet, get the torches ready!"

"Veezula!"

"Starlet!"

The two collided in the middle of the dish. Smoke rose from the dish and both opponents coughed. Forrest shielded her eyes from the smoke and frowned. The only things that she could see were the several vines shooting upwards meaning that the thousand vines weren't all unleashed yet.

"Come on, Starlet," she muttered under her breath, between two coughs, "one last fire attack."

Forrest raised her arm up to mentally support Starlet. She could do nothing physically; she felt so helpless.

"Hail Forrest!" Max screamed in the background. Forrest sweat dropped and rolled her eyes, lowering her arm quickly.

There was a clash between the two blades and there seemed to be some kind of small explosion. No one could see what was going on. Forrest could only feel the vines hitting against her back, slower and slower. It seemed like the thousand vines were all used up.

"Wow, lots of smoke down there!" the host exclaimed, "it's clearing…," he paused and focused on the dish.

The smoke cleared so slowly, the crowd was almost silent as they waited for the announcement. The cameras zoomed on the dish one by one and Forrest's breaths were slow and heavy.

"Oh come on, Starlet, I know that you're still alive," she mumbled to herself, her hands clasped together unconsciously.

It seems to take forever for the heavy grey fog to clear, the host waited impatiently and as he saw the first sight of a beyblade glimmering, he started to talk.

"It seemed like … the Weather Girls have lost," he said, "oh well folks! Next round is—" he paused abruptly as the smoke completely cleared, "no wait! It's a tie! We have our first tie of the tournament!"

The crowd gave some kind of a groan, wanting to cheer on a winner but couldn't.

"Well, that doesn't matter!" the host said, the crowd glared. "Next up will be… Max from the Bladebreakers and Autumn from the Weather Girls!"

"Come on, Max, you can do it!" Tyson screamed as his friend walked to the dish.

Forrest sat down on her team's side and sighed. She groaned something under her breathes.

"That was a great match!" Ray exclaimed. Forrest rolled her eyes.

"But… I still tied," she mumbled.

"Oh come on, even I couldn't have done much better," Ray replied.

"At least you could have defeated her," Forrest remarked.

"Stop pressuring yourself," a voice cut in, "it was your first battle."

"Whatever Kai," Forrest replied, recognizing the voice.

She stood up from her seat and left her team alone.

"Why are you leaving?" Tyson inquired. "Don't you want to watch us play?"

"What's the point, I know that you're going to win anyway." She sighed and rubbed her eyes in fatigue.

"No, you must stay here. I need to watch the matches, learn about other's bitbeast and elemental weaknesses. You need to learn," Kai stated with a monotone voice.

Forrest had no choice but to stay and watch the rest of her team win the next two rounds.

Max grinned to himself as he watched Draciel spin proudly in the simple dish. "Hehe."

"Draciel! Attack with full power!" His blonde hair was blown outwards by the wind.

"Flameia, Eruption!" Autumn exclaimed.

The two beyblades clashed in the middle fiercely.

"Oh! Look at those two!" he paused as the tension rose in the air, "and Max from the Bladebreakers takes this round!" The green blade spun steadily in the middle of the dish while the other one was left leaning to the side, immobile.

Tyson suddenly rose from his seat enthusiastically and clapped. Max laughed heartily back as he leaned down to retrieve his blade. The boy turned to his opponent and smiled. Autumn gave a cheesy grin back.

"That was a great match, Max!" Tyson exclaimed

"Hehe, I know that I'm great," Max winked as he walked over to his team.

"Hn, don't be stupid. This is only the first round. The people are still weak," Kai grunted as he ran his fingers through his messy blue hair.

"Don't be such a kill-joy, Kai," Forrest remarked, trying to smile even though the thought of losing to a weak opponent hit her heart, and hard. _I tied, damnit, I still can't believe it_.

Tyson turned to Kai. "Oh, seriously, Kai you have to admit that Max did great!"

"Whatever, just go to the dish, it's your turn," the Russian boy replied.

Tyson glared and a vein popped on his forehead anime style. "That…he…"

"Hey, it's okay, Tyson," Max cut in, "besides, it is your turn. Go show them what you've got!"

"Yes, go Tyson! We should see the results of your improved blade," Kenny added, glancing at Dizzi, "of course, Dizzi did most of the work."

Tyson rolled his eyes and gripped his blade and ripcord, still fuming. He looked at his opponent, a girl with platinum blonde hair.

"3, 2, 1, let it rip!"

He pulled on the launcher so hard that he could have broken the instrument. It seemed like smoke was coming out of his nose. Forrest smirked to herself. _I certainly won't talk to him for the next 24 hours_.

"Dragoon! Phantom Hurricane!" Tyson cried, still angry.

"Geleila, Avalanche!" Winter screamed, as she saw her blade in trouble.

The two opponents clashed in the middle of the Beydish, creating a storm of wind and snow.

"Nice blizzard there," Tyson remarked. "But if I can beat Tala, I can beat you!"

Dragoon roared ferociously and charged forward at a great speed. In a matter of seconds, the other blade was sent flying in the air. Winter managed to catch it. She gave a low sigh and looked at Tyson.

"I am honored to have battled you," she started.

Tyson scratched his head playfully and chuckled slowly. "Same here."

"And the Bladebreakers advance to the second round! What a surprise," the host said sarcastically, "anyway," he paused and looked at the screen, "it looks like Dreams of Eden will play against the Samurais in the next matches!"

Tyson made his way to his teammates with a grin, while skipping a little.

"And I thought that we girls only had mood swings," Forrest muttered.

"What did you say?" Tyson asked, not suspecting anything.

"Nothing," Forrest chuckled. _Don't get him angry, Forrest… don't get him angry_.

Kai rolled his eyes, mounted the stairs to the spectator seats, and took a seat in the first row. Everyone else followed his lead and took seats beside him or in the next row.

"And it seems like first up will be Tenka from the Samurais against Chase from Dreams of Eden!"

A dark haired boy with a brown shirt and black trousers stepped to the dish first. Then on the other side, a spike-haired boy appeared. Kai had to admit that the second boy was very tall, probably taller than his brother was.

Kai left his gaze drift to the big screen hanging in the midair. There it showed the stats of the players. _Samurais, mhm, very low defense but high attacks. I bet it's all physical attacks. That Chase guy has low endurance too, pretty high speed, wait…, he has almost the exact same stats as Forrest, only higher attack and speed_. He frowned and looked at his attacks. _Frozen Tundra, Atomic Reflection, and Swift Lightning—_

"That's not possible!" he exclaimed suddenly.  
"Actually, it is, Kai," came a voice. The Russian turned his head only to see Kenny sitting beside him with Dizzi on his laps. "Laptop talking! Okay. I've just looked through the database and it seemed like this Chase guy has a transforming bitbeast too and may I add, a very powerful one too."

"This is great!' Kenny exclaimed, "get ready Dizzi, we might get some good analysis to help improve Forrest's blade."

Hearing her name, the girl swung her head and only to meet Kai's gaze.

"You better watch," he warned, his voice monotone, "this is important."

"Sure…," she muttered, her voice trailing off as she turned back.

"Alright folks! It's time to… 3, 2, 1, let it rip!"

"Go Gaeliras! Sumo Slam!"

"Send him flying with Atomic Reflection!"

One beyblade jumped in the air, the top chip shining and a gorilla with heavy metallic armor appeared above it. It was furious. The other blade seemed to be immobile; it just stood there, waiting to be attacked.

"What's wrong, heh? Too baffled by my great bitbeast?" the Samurai inquired, smirking.

"No. Ever learned physics? Mass times gravity equals to weight. Since your attack only depends on weight, the bigger it, the bigger the force of your attack, therefore, greater the strength of my reflected attack!"

Kai cocked an eyebrow and grunted. _That guy has ways with words._

When the blade in the air merely touched the other blade, it was blown with a force. Chase's blade spun as fast as ever and a great light shone. For a fraction of a second, it seemed like a sword was floating in midair but it transformed into a mammoth, five times bigger than Tenka's gorilla. The two beasts battled but it was obvious that Chase was winning. The gorilla stepped back twice and grunted.

"Give him your Frozen Tundra attack!" Chase cried, his eyes narrowing. Kai frowned in the crowd. _Obviously he's at least three times as strong as Forrest_.

The match was at the end when Kenta's blade was sent flying out of the dish; its outer layer all scratched up and destroyed. The Samurai gritted his teeth but sighed.

"I owe you all my allegiance," the boy replied, bowing.

"Don't be so old-fashioned. A lost is a lost, nothing more," Chase replied, smiling slightly.

_Yes… and a tie is just a tie, nothing more, nothing less_, Forrest thought, cupping her chin subconsciously. _I definitely am going to talk to this Chase guy_.

* * *

"Miss Fan? There is someone wanting to talk to you," came a voice. Forrest gave an annoyed grunt.

"Where? Who?"

"Just outside there," the person responded, pointing outside the door, "near the vending machines."

She lazily got up and strolled outside, only to find an older boy leaning against the wall.

"Chase Misao of the Dreams of Eden?" Forrest questioned.

"What?" the guy snapped, as he lifted his head up, "oh sorry, I thought that it was someone else. Why are _you_ here?"

"Someone wanted to talk me, could that be you?" Forrest asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest, careful about her choice of words not to offend the guy. _I have to ask him some questions_.

"No. In fact, someone wanted to speak to me too," he responded, shrugging. "I've been waiting here for a minute—"  
"Oh, Chase and Forrest!" came a charming voice, very welcoming but suspiciously too nice. It was a man around the age of thirty, around his neck was a tag with his identification card and in the other hand a tape recorder.

"It's you, again," Chase started. "I've no business with you. Don't you paparazzi get it? You're not getting an interview with me, or her," Chase glanced at Forrest, "it's called privacy. I can't believe that I've waited this long just for a reporter, I thought that it was something important."

"Well obviously you know me," the man chuckled, ignoring the younger boy, "I'm from Beyblade Today, we're doing an article on both of you. So two new bladders with transforming bitbeast, tell us, is it hard to maintain energy in battle?" He pressed on a button and it started recording. Forrest gave a almost-silent cough.

"Don't answer him," Chase cut in, "let's go in the waiting room."

"Just one question!" the reported cried, "oh children, just one!"

"For your information, I'm 19 years old. And you're not allowed in the waiting room, good day," Chase groaned before he quickly pulled Forrest back into the room.

Forrest raised an eyebrow cockily and shook her head. "Do you get bombarded with them everyday or what? Seems like you know how to deal with them."

"No, I'm not that famous. Not like the Bladebreakers, he should be mainly attacking you," he replied, taking a seat on a random chair.

"Well they already wrote an article on me, hopefully that's the last. They turn everything against me, it's really not fair."

Forrest gave a chuckle and examined him closely for the first time. The older boy had dark brown hair, short and spiked. He was very tall and pretty well built. _He was on Beyblade Today too, now I remember_. "Oh yeah, Kai wanted me to talk to you."

"He _wants_ you to talk to me, but do you _want_ to talk to me?" he asked, propping his legs on the side of the coffee table carelessly. Forrest only shrugged. _That guy really plays with words_.

"It wouldn't hurt, I guess. So what forms can your bitbeast take?"

"The mammoth that you saw today. A snow stag and falcon."

"Interesting," Forrest mumbled as she registered it in her mind, "mind you, I'm not spying or anything."

"I don't really care. This is just a tournament, not war," Chase shrugged, "besides, there are spies everywhere. You don't look harmful."

_Is he saying that I'm not strong?_ she asked herself. _This guy reminds of Kai a little too much, not good_.

"So why Dreams of Eden? It sounds so Biblical," Forrest asked, purely out of curiosity. _I'm so not here to spy on you_.

"We all know an attack called Sword of Justice. It relates to how the angels kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden," Chase shrugged and placed his right hand near his neck to pull out a chain linked with a golden cross from under his shirt. "I'm not a Christian but because of our team name, we each have one of those. We battle for the teamwork."

"Oh," Forrest said, simply. "I'm impressed." Her eyes stared at the golden cross sitting on top of his shirt.

_So maybe Mr. Dickenson was right, this tournament is filled with diversities of people. Seems like Satomi's team is exactly the opposite of this one. But, what do I battle for?_ She looked up at the ceiling quietly.

Chase, during that time, took the time to get back to his team quietly, not disturbing Forrest's chain of thoughts. She didn't mind anyway.

"Maybe I battle for fame."

_That's really not a good reason. Maybe that's what makes Tyson and the others stronger. They don't fight for glory… they already have it. They fight for something else._

"But what?"

She jerked her head up quickly as she felt a warm hand touch her shoulder briefly.

"James!" she exclaimed. "Oh, is it time already?" she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall; it was already past four in the afternoon. Her question was left unanswered.

"Mister Hiwatari?" James asked, turning to the boy in question, "are you ready to go home?"

The mahogany eyed one gave a careless shrug and a meaningful look to Forrest. _Now you're starting to think, Forrest Fan, now you know what you lack_. _Fame is only the weakest reason.

* * *

_

**Author's Notes: **Ergh. I disliked the ending, a lot. I'm sorry about this weird chapter. Next chapter will hopefully not have that much of the tournament 'cause it gets weird. Leave a review, thanks!

Oh yeah, if you like fantasy, please go check out my new story: Fallen from Grace. Thanks.


	18. Hoping for Tomorrow

**Author's Notes: **This will clear up some things (you'll see), but if you get confused while reading it, don't be surprised. 'Cause I've tried reading it over again and I had read stuff twice before understanding what I wrote. Heh.

I will update Fallen from Grace next week, I hope that you guys check it out.

**Disclaimer: **Okay This is the last time that I'll write this: I do not own Beyblade.

* * *

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 18: Hoping for Tomorrow**

* * *

It was a dark and stormy night.

Not really.

It was an absolutely dull and humid night. It was in the middle of February, the seventh of February to be exact, and the second day of the tournament. Because the Bladebreakers had played on the opening day, they didn't have to go to the tournament for another week while other teams participated in the first round. Forrest was quite glad, but everyone else on the team wasn't. They all wanted her to watch the matches, learn of other's strategies but she saw no point in them; she thought that every match looked the same. In fact, _almost_ all the teams in the tournament were full of bladers with bitbeasts, and all of them were powerful. There were lions, polar bears, wolves, foxes, dragons and even penguins. _Such a zoo_, she thought as she groaned.

The club wasn't exactly empty, but it felt so empty. _Maybe it's because it's my last day here_, she told herself. She didn't want to think of it as that way, then she'd cry. She cried so easily.

The VIP room was dimly lighted, like always, the warm-looking seats that were set across the little room seemed to be so welcoming.

She was working as a bartender.

"This sucks."

She checked her watch under the dim light and sighed. _Two more hours to go._

Shayna was performing on stage, singing a variety of Japanese songs. Forrest was pretty sure that Shayna was just bored since she recognized the girl singing songs that she already knew. There were only a dozen people in the room, one was speaking loudly and impolitely on the phone in Japanese. Forrest could only understand some insults. Kai was there, physically, at least. Ray and Aurora sat in a corner, discussing about some things that Forrest didn't wish to know. _Wonder if he's still mad at her_.

"Hey, you, the bartender. Can you like table dance or something?" a guy called, approaching the bar slowly, seemingly drunk.

"Another vodka tonic for you, Mister White," Forrest groaned, recognizing the familiar face. He was a very good customer, business-wise, but Forrest hated him from his lack of defense against alcohol. She didn't care if he got drunk. _He better pay me high tips_.

Her father, David, was in a pretty bad financial situation as his stocks went down. He was out making speeches and often "forgot" to remind his secretary to send money to Forrest. She barely cared. _Kai's nice enough to cover almost everything. The only thing that I have to pay for is my airplane ticket—_

"Forrest!"

She subconsciously tucked some hair behind her ear and slowly jerked her head up. "What?" she sounded absolutely annoyed.

"You forgot, _again_."

It was Max, his blonde hair reflecting the light and a brown haired girl stood beside her. It wasn't Emily.

"Namiko Hunter, what are you doing here?" she questioned, curious. She cocked an eyebrow up and scanned the room quickly, it was still empty. She felt like she had forgotten something.

"I never thought that beyblading could take that much out of someone. You never forget about school work, Forrest!" Namiko exclaimed. "Your English project, rings a bell?"

Forrest smacked her head rather strongly and nodded to herself. "Right. Well, I guess that we'll have to work here. I can't really go home 'cause it's my last shift here."

Max gave an apprehensive nod and took one of the high stools lined up carefully along the counter.

"I never thought that it's this bloody quiet in clubs," Namiko commented as she sat down beside Max.

"I don't mind the quietness," Forrest shrugged, "so, I left my outline at home but I've thought of many similarities between Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, both in characters and plot."

"Right," Max scratched the back of his head nervously, "hehe. Well, I've got _some _idea. I never liked Stevenson's writing anyway."

Namiko tapped her fingers on the counter, annoyed. "Well we have a week and luckily you guys already played in that tournament, or so I heard," she paused, giving a glance towards Forrest and smiled, "want to meet a library sometime? Since obviously this meeting is so not going to work."

Forrest gave a semi-grunt and nodded. "Sorry, you guys." From the corner of her eyes, she saw a certain redhead, naminly the owner of the club, enter so she rolled her eyes. "I have to call it a quit for the meeting, I have to … perform."

"Gee, you sound enthusiastic," Max added, chuckling.

As Forrest predicted, Shayna finished her song quickly in order to join Tala, her boyfriend. Forrest took a quick detour backstage and changed into the simple black t-shirt and black skirt. Shayna barely took a minute to change back into her normal clothes before stepping out of the changing room with a quick 'goodbye'.

Stepping on the stage and her hands coming in contact with cold metal of the microphone seemed like a blur. It was ironic, really, how it felt so cold, even though the heater was turned on high, and yet her nerves and brain didn't seem to process the feeling well enough. It just lingered on the mere surface of her hand, just there, waiting for something.

Suddenly, the room became a lot quieter. It was the rude man who had stopped speaking on his cell phone. There was now a smoke coming from that man's mouth and a cigarette lighted between his index and middle finger. Forrest gave an indifferent look; she didn't mind smoking, it's not like she had asthma or anything. But she did give a faint cough, not in the mike, fortunately.

"Is there anyone who plays an instrument here?" she questioned the small crowd, her eyes scanning over them. No one raised their hand or said anything. Her gaze landed on Namiko and she frowned, rather mischievously. "Come on."

Namiko gave an urgent shake of head and waved her arms quickly. "No… it's okay," she insisted.

Forrest almost laughed out loud as Max gave her a shove up the stage.

"Do you know Lifehouse?" Forrest asked, not wanting the spectators to wait, even though there were only a dozen of them.

"Not exactly," Namiko muttered, still trying to recover. "I don't like performing."

"I know that," Forrest replied, turning the mike away so that the audience couldn't hear them. "But that doesn't matter." She grinned. "Just grab the guitar over there," she pointed to the corner, where a vintage-looking guitar stood on a wooden chair. "I'll start singing and just, you know, play some chords. I can't sing well without accompaniment. I hate the records anyway."

She gave a quick cough before adjusting her voice, making sure that it was a little lower than usual to match the original singer's.

_What day is it _

_And in what month _

Namiko played a first chord, it was pretty good.

_This clock never seemed so alive I can't keep up and I can't back down I've been losing so much time _

They both got the hang of it so the song went a little faster. A couple of verses came out of her lips freely. No matter how cheesy it felt like, she did sing her heart away, for all the fatigue that the stupid tournament brought her. _Why am I even Beyblading? I love this stage better than a beydish. I don't belong there. **I belong here**._

_All of the things that I want to say _

_Just aren't coming out right _

_I'm tripping on words, you got my head spinning _

_I don't know where to go from here _

Kai spun his straw in between his thumb and index fingers, listening to the lyrics closely. _She really likes that song_. He has once looked at her playlist by accident and that song was on her short and clean favorite list.

_You and me and all of the people _

The VIP room was even quieter, the loud man on his cell phone left and there was no clinking of champagne glasses anymore.

_With nothing to do, nothing to prove and _

_Hey, I am worthy. I don't need to prove it_. Pride was very overwhelming.

_It's you and me and all of the people and _

_I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you_

Her gaze came upon Kai, it wasn't a curious gaze or anything, it wasn't even a gaze of care. Her eyes lingered on a spot on his shoulder, illuminated by the red lights above his heads, why, she did not know. She gave a slight chuckle in the mike that shook him awake from his reverie.

"For Kai, a great friend," she paused and cast a rather morbid look, "whom I will miss _a lot_." Her lips formed an 'o', but then formed a simple smile.

* * *

"Yeah but see, Frankenstein is a sign of creation of life."

"Some people don't get that, they think that he's just some zombie revived from the dead," Max shrugged, "we have to make this project interesting."

"Well we know that we're going to do a skit," Forrest said, "it's required. Do you guys wanna do it in-class or film it?"

"Do you guys have time to film it?" Namiko asked, rolling her eyes, "with all the beyblading."

Max shook his head immediately. "We have to practice everyday, according to Kai."

It was Friday the 10th of February, it was snowing slightly outside. _Like angels with their wings cut off_. The Bladebreakers had to go back to school for the rest of the week because they had already participated in the first round, which was going to take a whole week, because Mr. Dickenson still wanted people to go to school during the tournament. Not many liked the idea. _At least the White Tigers played on Wednesday, they had two more days off_. In fact, the first round was very important, or so they've heard, mainly because a good three-quarters of the teams would be eliminated based on their performances. When Forrest heard the news, or bad news, she could grin pitifully at herself. _I hope that I don't cause them an elimination_.

"Thought so," Namiko added. "So let's separate our work."

"Yeah, great plan," Forrest said, with no apparent sarcasm in her voice, she was plainly annoyed and tired.

"Hey, stop being to grumpy, Forrest," the blonde haired one said, chuckling. "You should be glad that you don't have to work at the club anymore!"

"Being on stage makes me feel at home," she groaned and flipped some pages of this literary criticism. "This library sucks, the English section is so little."

"I know," Namiko agreed.

"Hey, Japan's already pretty English-influenced; we had even less stuff before!" Max exclaimed.

"How can you live without researching materials?" Namiko took out her notebook. "We should start brainstorming."

"I can take care of the props," Max suggested, "my dad can probably find a bunch of random stuff from the shop."

"I can do the script and direct the skits," Namiko added, she turned to Forrest, "you?"

"Ergh," Forrest paused, closing her eyes, "I guess that I'll write the analysis."

"Hehe," Max scratched the back of his head, "don't worry, Emily's doing that too, you can ask her for stuff."

"Great," she grumbled, "so which scenes would you want to do?" she paused, "and I'm not acting that psycho Dr. Frankenstein."

"You won't," Namiko had a glint in her eyes and winked. She gave a quick turn of head and indicated that she already cast Max as the crazy doctor.

Forrest gave a hearty laugh. _Maybe this place isn't so bad after all_.

She felt something vibrate against her leg. She gave a glance towards the librarian and noticed a sign: 'Respect the silence, do not use cellular phones.'

"Be right back."

She fingered her leg-pocket and went in the rows of books. There, she was hidden and free to speak, not too loudly but it was good enough for her.

"Hey."

"Forrest, you should come home, your father wants to talk to you," it was Theresa, her voice always so warm.

Forrest almost choked on her own saliva.

"Why doesn't he call my cell?"

"Just come home," it was an order, rather weird coming out of the gentle lady.

"I'll be there." She quickly hung up and stuffed her cell phone back into her pocket. She glanced at her two partners sitting there, bored, and sighed.

"Sorry you guys," she went over and grabbed her bag, "I gotta go, emergency." Forrest didn't wait for their approval before leaving.

"Why do I feel like we're going to fail this project?" Namiko asked, rhetorically.

"Well we can always ask Emily—"

"We can't depend on her, Max," Namiko cut him off, "I know that she's probably the smartest person around but this our project, if Forrest can't straighten her priorities, then she has to give something up."

"Like give up beyblading? I don't think so," Max shook his head, "you don't understand."

"Oh, no, I understand perfectly. I play sports too," Namiko stood up, "I'm not angry at her. I'm just disappointed."

"Maybe you can become a life-manager someday. You manage your time so wisely," he commented, also getting up from his seat and pushing the chair in quickly. Namiko cocked an eyebrow.

"I don't think so."

* * *

He watched her kick off her shoes quickly, over that clean and expensive Persian carpet. He groaned. That was the rare thing that his mom was right about, Forrest was the messiest person ever.

"Do you mind if I call America?" she asked, mostly rhetorically because she knew that he'd accept anyway.

Indeed, she didn't wait for him to nod or anything before grabbing the phone that sat on the small table between two couches. Her fingers traced the keys for a second and seemed to hesitate, he couldn't tell much, and put the speaker on.

He was reading a Japanese play and quite absorbed. His place was on a couch, he liked that couch, next to the one in the study room of course but the study room wasn't the best place for reading, as the computer and television distracted him a lot. He leaned the leather couch, his legs stretched out and supported by putting his feet on the center coffee table. He couldn't feel the coldness of the marble table against his feet as he wore white wool socks. He shifted and twitched, uncomfortable. There were still beeps in the background, coming from Forrest trying to dial the number.

"Are you done?" his voice was deep, "you don't remember your father's number?"

She grunted in frustration and tucked some rebellious hair behind her ear. Kai saw her stick up her middle finger but she looked at the phone during the time, muttering 'damn' over and over again. He cocked an eyebrow up.

"What is that?" he asked, curious. He placed his bookmark in the thin book and sat up straighter, his feet left contact with the table.

"You Japanese…," she seemed to mumble, he couldn't tell much, once again. She gave him a weird look. "You wouldn't wanna know what it means."

He shook his head to himself. _She has problems_. But didn't bother to ask as the phone started beeping, meaning that she had finally remembered the number.

"David Godenot speaking," came the voice, rather faint on the speaker.

Her hair rippled over again, falling and covering her face. She leaned down a little so that she was closer to the phone.

"It's Forrest."

"Oh."

There was a pause.

"Yes, _chere_, I wish that you'd come home soon."

"Sure," she paused. There wasn't any sarcasm in her voice.

He shifted back to his position, legs stretched out and cast his gaze back to his book, but his ears lingered to listen to her conversation. _It's her fault that she left the speaker on_.

"I've bought my ticket already, for the 19th, a Sunday. That's the best date that I could find."

Kai almost choked but he managed to just frown. _That's the day right after the tournament. Maybe she does hate us. _

There was a shatter and jerked his head quickly away towards the sound. It was the kitchen. _Here comes mom_. And he was right, Ms. Black came straight to the kitchen in alarm. She never really yelled at the maids for breaking anything, she just stood there, staring at the mess. She didn't shake her head or anything, in fact she just stood there and stared indifferently. Kai found that that was the worst part because quiet commands were worse than words. He got up from the couch; he had heard enough of Forrest's conversation anyway, and went to the kitchen. His trousers trailed on the wooden floor, and his gaze shifted from his feet to the china in pieces on the floor. He couldn't tell exactly what it was. There was a handle, so he expected a cup of some sort. Mrs. Hiwatari seemed so much superior, with her air of elegance. It didn't seem cruel of her because she was born into richness. Everyone thought so. It was probably _true_ anyway. The probably being a very accurate one. Kai never remembered having any financial problems, even after his grandfather Voltaire had failed his project of acquiring bitbeasts.

A maid was bent down to clean up the mess. She already had things in her hand but she didn't care. It must have been shameful for her to break something of her owner. In fact, she was blushing and water ran down her cheeks, Kai wasn't sure if it was sweat or tears. He hoped that it was just sweat. His mom didn't make people cry, at least, he didn't think so, but she made them scared of her, be in awe every time her presence is there. She was that capable.

He always wondered why she even married his father. In fact, the only reason was because of Voltaire. "It wasn't an arranged marriage," Anna Hiwatari once explained. "See, Kai, mommy didn't care. My dad told me that money wasn't enough," she used to lay her hand on his slate hair softly, she was still a loving mother, "he told me that power existed too and without power there would be nothing." But the thing was, Kai's paternal grandfather died of leukemia, too old to fight the pain, and his seat in the Japanese government ("that's how you got your last name, Kai, sweetie, see only your father was Japanese, on my side, we were all Russian"), or in Voltaire's words "the only use of that old bastard", was gone. So Kai's father was devastated but Voltaire wanted Anna Black to file for divorce seeing as the Hiwataris carried power no more. But it was only in Anna Black-Hiwatari's pity that she didn't obey her father and that was the only time that she disobeyed him. She loved Kai's father but it wasn't a passionate love, it was just something a little more than compassion. Voltaire didn't have any of that.

He looked away from the maid, ashamed that it was his mother standing there, her icy glare on the poor servant, who was a rather old lady. He felt great pity towards her so he sighed. Pity like Anna Black felt towards Kai's father. _No you're not like them, Kai_.

His arm reached out to tap on his mother's shoulder.

"Your flight," he said simply, distracting her. He saw her hesitate to change her look as her shoulders seemed to collapse as the intensity of her eyes decreased. She looked at him and nodded.

"Yes, your father and I are both leaving soon," she paused as she gave one last glance at the maid, who was quietly retreating. She gave a wave of her hand, as she approved of her action. The maid gave several nods in a row and gave an apologizing smile. _I wonder how she does it, acting like a queen. _

Kai never learned that from his mom.

"_Soon_," he pressed in.

"In two hours," she added. "The little things that we have to pack are in the bag already. James is taking care of it, he is one _careful_ man," Kai knew that she was directing the comment at the servant, who had already gone back to her place near the oven where she tried to occupy herself with something so she washed the dishes over again.

He was about to go back to his room as he saw a head of black hair approaching them. He wanted to smack his head. _She has horrible timing that Forrest Fan_.

She immediately tried to turn away.

"Miss Fan!" Ms. Black exclaimed. Kai hated it how his mother keeps being so polite in front of people whom she was _much _superior too, either being an elder or just socially. He felt bad himself when she called him 'son' sometimes. "My husband and I are almost leaving, so maybe you could show us that Italian cooking that you were speaking of."

"Oh," her voice was high-pitched, like a fur ball was stuck in her throat. "Sure. When are you leaving?" Luckily, she didn't sound too pushy. Kai gave a small sigh.

"The plane leaves at six, we have to get there by 5," the older woman explained, her arms on her side, waiting for the girl's response.

Forrest seemed to give a careful smile, making sure that she didn't show her teeth because they weren't as pearly white as Ms. Black's.

"Well, um," Forrest was shaky, "That's kinda early because I have some stuff that I have to do so I don't really have much time to—"

"_Stuff_?" Ms. Black asked. Kai closed his eyes and groaned to himself. He knew that leaving the scene would be considered so impolite of him but he had nothing to say. He had one leg supporting him, his back against the wall and the other feet pushing the wall.

"Finances," Forrest cleared up, fake smiling. Kai already recognized her fake smiles from her genuine ones.

"Oh, budgets?" Mrs. Hiwatari asked herself, "well, of course, go right ahead! I wouldn't keep you away from more important things like budgets. But shouldn't your maid Theresa be doing that?"

"She's not my maid," Forrest stated clearly, gritting her teeth, ignoring the question itself.

Ms. Black frowned and nodded, understanding that Forrest wanted to stop the short conversation. Her mouth quirked up and her high cheekbones seemed even more obvious. She carefully did the motion of tying her hair up but let her slate curls fall again. She didn't feel awkward, but Kai and Forrest sure did. Her simple act of boredom caused Kai a lot of unwanted worries about whether he'll survive himself this upcoming two hours with his mother. He was so jealous of Forrest because she could leave, whereas he was stuck to have little conversations with his mother. It wasn't the greatest feeling.

There was a honk and Forrest almost jumped. She didn't bother excusing herself before exiting the little "scene".

"Isn't it so quiet without her around?" the woman started, taking a step towards his direction.

"Jake wasn't any quieter," Kai commented, shrugging. He stepped away from his mom and looked towards the lounge, hinting that their conversation wouldn't be bothered if they sat down.

"Speaking of Jake," she took the care to ignore most of the comment, "he called saying that he was having a 'blast' back at Russia. They are planning to have their wedding in June. Exciting isn't it?"

"Hn, sure," he gave a quick nod before taking a seat back in his favorite leather couch, sinking in. "Where are dad and you going?"

There was a screech coming from the entrance. Kai perceived the grand oak door opening and a tall black haired man stepped in. He noticed his mom smile to herself.

"Gianku!" Mrs. Hiwatari exclaimed, putting her hand on the couch, motioning it, inviting her husband to sit beside her.

"Anna," he gave a nice smile, "Kai."

Kai hasn't seen much of his dad, Gianku, for the past week that they've stayed at the house. Gianku Hiwatari was pretty tied up with everything that he had to do. In fact, he became a big part of his wife's businesses and he was the one who made the cooperation work. Kai had to admit, his dad had a thing with teamwork and friendship, unlike he did. _I need to learn from both of them_. The old man had many hints of grey hair not-so-well hidden among his black hair. He had refused to dye his hair back to black, saying that keeping it naturally is what he desired. The man had mahogany eyes, just Kai did, and very noticeable broad shoulders.

"Ready for the flight?" Anna asked in her perfect Japanese, the one language that she spoke the best after Russian.

"Hai," Gianku responded, grinning widely. "Do you want a cup of tea?"

Gianku was no politician, he didn't like speeches, in fact, he didn't speak much at all. That was probably the only thing that Kai got from his dad, apart from the red eyes.

Kai knew that his mother was going to ask him to come with them to have some of the _quite expensive but utterly disgusting tea_ so he took back his book and started reading again. He had no intentions of drinking that _crap_.

Indeed, Anna saw her son absorbed in literature again and nodded to herself.

"Keep your studies up, Kai," she told him before making her way towards the kitchen once again.

The couple was separated by almost a head in height, both were very tall. From behind, they wouldn't look like a couple at all, in fact, they didn't. They looked like colleagues of great acquaintance, nothing else. But more importantly, nothing more.

* * *

"Aaah! Grand—"

"What are you little dudes still sitting here for?" the old man looked around quickly, "where's that girl, Forrest?"

"She's not here," Tyson answered, "and stop scaring us like that!" he put his hand over his heart and breathed hard.

"Heh, sorry," he held his kendo baton firmly and left, not wanting to disturb them from their "meeting".

There were a dark-blue head, a blonde head, a brunette head and a slate head, but they were missing the two raven heads.

"Aaargh, where is Ray?" Tyson bit his bottom lip. "I don't care about that stupid girlfriend of his anymore, we need him! And where is Forrest?" he turned his attention to Kai, but the Russian only shrugged. "Oh man, we're so screwed!"

"Stop your whining," came a voice, sharp and dictating at first, "the Chief and I went to see _all _of the matches and took data of all the capable teams." Kenny continued typing in things.

"Dizzi's right," the boy started, his eyes still not visible, "we've come up with a new strategic practice plan."

"We need a _strategic _practice… thing?" Max asked, scratching his head. "Chief, thanks, I guess."

"Hey, like he has done all the work," Dizzi said.

"Oh, cut it out already, Dizzi. You get credits too," Kenny paused, he opened a big window on the laptop and told everyone to gather around. Even Kai peeked at the screen over everyone's shoulders. "There are several teams that we have to watch out for," he clicked on a button, "your old friends: the White Tigers, too bad Ray's not here."

"Hey, we beat them before! Besides, Mariah isn't so tough anymore," Tyson said. "And it's not like we can't kick Lee's butt again."

"Right, Tyson, don't be so over-confident," the Chief started again, he opened another window, showing the members of another team, "the Sky Gliders. We've all seen them play a little and the only tough thing about them is that they all use wind attacks. We really have no advantage over them, especially you, Tyson," Kenny looked at the boy in question, "it will sure be like a tornado hit if we battle against them."

"Oh don't worry Kenny," Max grinned, "Tyson's Dragoon is a toughie."

"Riiight," Dizzi almost giggled, Tyson gave a grimace, "I'll explain the rest, Chief. After all, I'm just a talking computer, I should talk all day!" Kai gave an annoyed groan. "Gee. So next team, Dreams of Eden. We've got a lot of stuff to improve Forrest's blade but guess what? She's not here! You guys should work on the attendance of these meetings." Tyson gave a blank look. Dizzi changed her tone. "The Dreams of Eden is a new team, but believe it or not, they're very capable and they control their bitbeasts quite well. Even Mr. Dickenson is supporting that team."

"Next tough team that battled was the Pierres, apparently they're from Vietnam, and they're all named Pierre," Kenny continued, "they've got mighty defense and they don't seem to have bitbeasts, but don't underestimate them. Their beyblades are as hard as rocks, literally."

"Hey, Kenny," Tyson interrupted, "I know that this is important to you and all but this is getting so boring. Why don't you just introduce the practice plan already?"

"Okay!" the Chief exclaimed, "Just let me finish quickly," he started speaking slowly again, "there are just two more teams left. The Slayers, we can get information from Forrest later about them. Then last, the Astral Spirits. They've got so much technology behind them; apparently they're from this famous Abbott Academy where Beyblading is a required class! Imagine the team; they must be the stars of the school."

"Hey don't worry Chief," Max chuckled, "we're the stars of the world!"

"Max, you better believe in what you say," a rather deep voice cut in, Kai closed his eyes as he spoke, "this might be just the Asian tournament but Beyblading has become much more popular lately," he gave a look to Tyson, "you started blading from scratch too. We all did, at one point so don't bluff too much."

"When _you _talk," Tyson gritted his teeth, "you make us always feel like amateurs."

"Cut it Tyson," Kenny shook his head to himself, _when will these guys get it?_

Silence.

Crickets.

_Chirp. Chirp._

Tyson ruffled Kenny's hair then suddenly started chuckling.

"Alright, whatever you say Chief," he looked more serious, "so what's your practice plan? If we're going to get better, let's start now."

Kenny gave a large grin, happy that Tyson understood, most of it, for once. _He's not stupid; he's just too stubborn to listen_.

"I want you guys to learn each other's attacks."

Kai raised an eyebrow, very, very high and snickered. "You expect too much."

"No, I'm not," the boy adjusted his glasses, "see the White Tigers have done it before and that was more than two years ago, right? We've all improved since then so it should take us days if we practice all the time. I'll try to help all that I can, and of course, Dizzi will too."

"Why would we need to learn others' attacks?" Max frowned, he didn't frown often.

"It's all about elemental advantages, Max," Kenny closed his laptop, to Dizzi's protests, and started to stand up. "After analyzing the power of a morphing bitbeast, and more specifically, the bitbeast of Chase from the Dreams of Eden. I've discovered that there was so much more power when you could use different attacks. Forrest hasn't mastered her bitbeast well yet, they need more time to practice together but I believe that you guys already have a lot of experience with your bitbeasts," Kenny smiled.

"Well, you're right about that," Tyson nodded and gave a rather confused look.

"Oh come on you guys, it's no harm!"

Kai rolled his eyes and didn't bother to move from his place. His back wasn't leaning against the wall; he was just sitting in the middle of the room, looking like he was about to lie down. He did. The pale brown ceiling came into view and from the tall windows the night sky. _Mom's gone for now. Everything seems too good to be true._ He cast a look over his teammates, following Kenny to go out in the yard. Max was still at the door.

"Hey, Max," Kai started.

"Yeah?" Max turned into blonde head around.

"What does the middle finger mean?" Kai suspected some weird answer.

"Er, you don't want to know," Max chuckled, a little flushed.

"_No_, I _want_ to know."

"It means 'screw you' in a much more offensive way." The blonde turned his back on Kai and continued following Kenny. "You coming?"

"Right," Kai cocked an eyebrow, understanding what Max meant. _She definitely has problems_.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Well, you can probably tell that I just wanted to cut if off there. Okay, I know that all that crap about the teams is really boring for you guys, but they are a Bey team and Kenny does analyze a lot even though he keeps most of it to himself, he still shares stuff with the team. I'm sorry if I made Tyson & Max too goofy, I didn't mean it. Like the pro say it: _please R&R_.

100th reviewer gets a cookie. :)


	19. The Bliss of Winning

**Author's Notes: **This chapter is _long_. Over 17 pages in total and worth the reading 'cause there are some details in here :) I tried to edit things in here. The reading is real smooth; I'm trying to use shorter sentences / new style, something like that.

Thanks to Darkest Illusions for the 100th review, -hands cookie-. You guys are great. The support is appreciated x33

PS: Don't let the title spoil you. The 'winning' part isn't that important.

* * *

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 19: The Bliss of Winning**

**

* * *

**

As they reached the one-story house, they stepped out of the car, him from the front seat and her from the backseat. Immediately, the black car seemed to disappear in the February fog. He was the one who lead the way, his fist coming in contact with the metal knockers of the door, knocking loudly. There was a sharp cry heard from within, she frowned.

"What's going—"

"Ah, Kai!" a dark haired boy popped into view, wearing his baseball hat as usual, "and Forrest," he gave her a strange look, something close to disappointment, "you missed the last training session."

"Sorry," she mumbled before taking a step into the courtyard of the house. Several bonsai trees were planted along the bits of fresh soil uncovered by the snow; everything else was just plain white. "What did I miss?"

"A lot, actually," came Kenny's voice. He was sitting on the steps with Dizzi on his laps. "but you don't have much to do. You already know many attacks. You only need to practice with the new blade—"

Her eyes widened dramatically and her jaw hung in mid-air. "Chief! Wow, thanks!" She glanced at a red blade lying on the steps near the boy and grinned. Then her eyes trailed to a pair of Chinese style black shoes. "Ray?" He hadn't come to any of their training sessions for a month.

Indeed, the boy in question was there, standing firmly and his hands clutching on his launcher. Driger was already battling against Draciel.

"Draciel! Go on the offensive!"

"Driger, hold on!"

Forrest blinked to herself and gave a curious glance at Kenny. "That's not right. Max is the defensive one. Everyone knows that."

"This is what you missed, missy," Dizzi spoke with a strict voice, "the Chief and I looked up the energy levels and the advantages of Chase Misao's attacks and yours and we found them really great so we've figured that if your bitbeasts can know more than one type of attack, why not the others."

Forrest gave a look at Kai. "So Max is learning the Tiger Claw attack?" she turned her glance towards the two beyblades, noticing how differently they spun.

The two tops collided against each other, sending sparks and the sound of metal against metal in the air. Max's green beyblade was tipped over a little so that it was attacking mightily while Ray's was backing up and coming near to the end of the dish.

"Draciel, let's try the Tiger Claw attack!" Max's blonde hair waved in the wind, his teeth were gritted and his fists clenched. He looked ferocious for once.

"Defense maneuver!"

The tortoise and the tiger emerged from the blades, colliding against each other. Draciel was surrounded by a faint green light, one that resembled Driger's aura and Driger's armors shone purple. Giving a terrible roar, Draciel charged forwards, his fists surrounded by what seemed like electricity sparks while Driger's claws dug into the ground, not wanting to back down.

Kenny took the time to record more data as he grinned. His eyeglasses reflected the sunlight and his long brown bangs covered his eyes but his expression was readable; he was _really_ happy.

"This is great!" he exclaimed. "Forrest," he paused, "you should go battle with Tyson over there, somewhere," he pointed to an area near the bonsai trees. "Tyson needs to learn either earth or thunder moves."

She shrugged, obliged to follow the Chief's orders. It wasn't hard, she thought. She stepped across Tyson, getting her launcher, which was hung on her belt. The World Champ already had his beyblade ready to launch.

"3," Tyson started, Forrest got her stuff ready and stretched her arms, "2, 1, let it rip!"

"Let it rip!" she cried, pulling as hard as she could on the ripcord. Merciless. "So how am I supposed to teach you?"

"Attack me," he offered, taunting her as he smirked. He played with his baseball hat a little and watched the blades closely. He noticed her squint her eyes and blowing some hair away from her eyes.

"Well, let's see what great changes Kenny has done to my blade," Forrest said, "Thunder Outrage!"

Tyson watched closely for the movements of her blade, moving in a zigzag pattern and surrounded by sparks. She did not summon her bitbeast at that time, it was just a simple battle. He narrowed his pupils and watched closely. _Spinning real fast_, he gritted his teeth, _Dragoon can do that. Piece of cake_. Her blade hit his, hard, as he felt a jerk backwards but he chuckled.

"Alright, let me try," Tyson grinned proudly and memorized the moves, "Dragoon, Thunder Outrage!"

His blade moved in almost the same pattern as Forrest's did. Slowly, he could feel the heat rising in him, like jolts of electricity. _You can do it, Dragoon. More velocity_. Sparks began to appear around his blade, but only a faint hint of it. Dragoon charged forward, its silver body gleaming in the sunlight as he appeared on top of Tyson's blade.

"Starlet! Evade!"

The red blade struggled a little at first but began running away from Dragoon. Tyson called Dragoon to make a turn and ended up attacking Forrest with a big clash. He gave a small sigh.

_Ergh, I can't keep doing—_

"Dragoon, Phantom Hurricane!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. In the background, Kenny sweat dropped.

Dragoon gave a fierce roar and charged towards Starlet with great strength, a tornado above it, making some leaves come off of the trees. Forrest shielded her face and closed her eyes. Dusts and leaves flew everywhere and she took a step back. The fallen snow was once again lifted from the ground. There was another sound of metal against metal and then silence. Tyson knew that Starlet was knocked out because he could still feel Dragoon strong and ready to battle.

"Tyson!" the Chief gave an annoyed cry, "the whole point was to _not _use your attacks!"

"Yeah, come on Tyson. We all know that you'll good with wind attacks," Max added. "Besides, it looked like you've got some of the sparks going already!"

"But, you can already master the Tiger Claw attack, Maxie!" Tyson groaned. "I was supposed to be the first person, you know, as World Champ."

"Don't be stupid Tyson," Ray cut in, "Max and I have been practicing for more than two days now. We barely slept. You've just started."

Tyson gave a grin and shrugged. "Sure." He turned to Forrest, who looked rather perplexed. "Wanna show me that earth move?" She gave him a chuckle and nodded gladly.

The Chief typed up some last information of the day and paused. He glanced around and noticed Kai standing there, watching both matches, switching from one to another from time to time. His mahogany eyes were focused and nothing seemed to be bothering him.

"Dizzi," Kenny spoke softly to his bitbeast, not wanting others to hear him, "do you think that Kai is going to be okay?"

"Of course he is!" Dizzi exclaimed. The Chief muttered a 'shh'. "Oops."

"We should spare him," Kenny continued, "I've analyzed the other teams and fire doesn't seem to have too much problem with any of them. It's just Tyson and Max that are at disadvantage."

"Yeah," Dizzi seemed to giggle, "give the old guy a break. I feel bad for him."

"Why would you feel bad for him?" Kenny's voice was raised a little, curious.

"He always looks so lonely. I know that it's his nature but…" her voice trailed off.

"He's not lonely, Dizzi, he has us, the Bladebreakers. He has Dranzer, Tyson, Max, Ray, me, you, and also Forrest."

Kai lifted his head unconsciously and heard the last word of Kenny's conversation. _Forrest_. He turned to watch her blade with a horse floating in mid-air above it. _She's leaving… in exactly a week_.

* * *

Her shoelaces untied, her hair sticking out, and with her backpack hanging from one shoulder, she ran into the class. As she stepped in, the bell rang loudly and she gave a sigh. "Ohayo Akiyo-sama." 

"Morning class," Miss Akiyo started, giving a strict look to the girl who just entered.

Janet walked to the back of the class, where almost everyone smart and lucky enough was sitting. No one tolerated Miss Akiyo's temper. _Talk about PMS_.

"What page are we on?" Janet whispered as she sat flat on a squeaky chair.

"54," Forrest replied quickly, not looking away from the page. She had enough problems reading in Japanese already. Janet quickly flipped to the page, almost getting a paper cut and read it quickly.

"Jane!" came Akiyo's voice. "Read."

"Hai," Janet started, her voice clear and with a slight Japanese accent.

The girl with the flaming-red-hair was almost fluent already, ready to leave Forrest and go into the normal Japanese class. But Forrest was far from being fluent; she still couldn't understand a mere ten percent of TV shows. She started reading quicker, her tongue flicking and her eyes skimming over the lines of characters.

Janet stopped at the end of the paragraph and smiled to herself. She really was getting better; she could hold a conversation with normal Japanese people with no problems.

"Based on what Jane has just read," Akiyo started, Janet frowned at her real name 'Jane', "analyze the mood and setting. I give you five minutes."

Her eyes looking over Janet's shoulders, Forrest copied down what the other girl wrote, only slightly differently. They finished a little early so both leaned back in their chairs.

"So how's the tournament?" Janet asked in a whisper.

"Fine," Forrest paused, "we're playing again today after school."

"Oh," Janet brightened, "is Kai playing?"

Forrest gave a chuckle, knowing that Janet would _always _bring Kai into the conversation.

"I don't think so."

"Oh," Janet's voice sounded rather disappointed, "well, that's just too bad. Tell me when he's going to play, alright?"

"Sure," Forrest looked at the time, they still had two minutes left, "why don't you give up on him?" It was a random question.

"Why should I?" Janet shrugged, "well, it's not like I want to marry him or anything. I just admire him, almost everything about him, you know, his elegance, how he blades, how he walks, how he talks."

"It's just an infatuation," Forrest suggested, "Kai is rather … interesting, I agree, but you know, he's just like any other guy."

"If you say so," a shrug, she really liked shrugs, "do you think that we'll ever become friends? That's what I want the most: a friend like Kai."

"Why not?" Forrest gave a hopeful answer to Janet "I'm Kai's friend, I think… and truth is, you're not too different from me."

Janet gave a quick giggle and closed her eyes. "Let's hope, shall we?"

"Yes, let's hope."

Outside the class, down the spirally stairs, and out the doors, a certain boy with a phoenix bit beast strolled on school grounds. On him, he wore the school uniforms, light-colored long-sleeve buttoned up shirt and dark trousers complimented with a tie, with a golden pin that held it in place. He always hated the uniforms. Their principal and some _uniform committee_ tried to change the uniform each year to make people actually like it. No one did, of course. He remembered the last poll that they posted was about whether the shirt should have two or three buttons. No one cared. He pitied them, nah. As if.

He loosened his tie slowly and gave a sigh. It was semi-cold outside but it seemed that Dranzer was close to him, giving him warmth both inside and outside. He gave a look at his studded Quartz watch, a present from his brother. _How nice_. Never before had he noticed that the watch showed temperature too. It was new, yet looked old because he had already scratched it. He felt bizarre.

It was negative five Celsius outside, a nice weather for a winter day.

He walked away from the school, heading somewhere quieter. He ended up stopping between two big maple trees, bare naked and probably freezing. Such a pity. Not far was the black metal fence, separating the garden from the outside swimming pool, which was heated and had visible steam floating over it. He wondered if it was just a plain huge Jacuzzi.

A head of brown hair came into view. He instinctively hid behind a thick trunk. From the corner of his observant eyes he saw someone familiar, someone almost forgotten but had caused so much trouble, especially for Ray Kon. It was Aurora Lyn, her back pressed against another tree and her arms stretched out. Kai squinted his eyes. In her hands was a beyblade, one in a silvery color with a red attack ring that stood out sharp. Her eyes were closed but yet she appeared attentive. Kai did not make a sound. She closed her hands and gave a sigh. Her eyes opened. Kai flashed a quick look, they weren't _her _eyes, were they? he asked himself. They were _blue_, not green. He doubted himself but his vision never lied to him before. Why now?

"Kai Hiwatari," came her perfect voice, soft and sweet, but not sweet enough to disgust him. She was abnormal, for her. Her dark hair was messy for once and dark circles hung around her eyes. _Maybe_ she even had wrinkles. He wondered what happened to Little-Miss-Perfect.

"Yes?" he sounded pretty annoyed.

"Don't you have _class_?" she didn't look at him though. But he looked at her, noticing her stuff her beyblade in the inside-pocket of her uniform jacket.

"I would ask you the same question," he responded. He was just out for a walk. Besides, who needs to learn digital photography? He only took it because he had no choice.

The questions were left unanswered, at least, that's one thing that they rarely agreed upon.

"Good day to you."

She left, gracefully, and making sure that she didn't have any mud on her clothes.

He ignored her. He didn't know her anyway. She was only of mere acquaintance but he suspected her. She was part of the Slayers after all. And they meant **no** good.

He gave one last look at the pool and grunted. A dead beetle floated on the surface of the almost-burning water. _Just one more week_.

* * *

They were on the way to the tournament, in the black van driven by James. Kai, like always, sat in the front passenger seat. 

"Kai do you have any other CD's?" Tyson groaned, shifting his baseball hat, bored.

Kai glared at the boy through the mirror and popped some J-Rock CD in. The volume was put on the softest, so that only people in the back row could hear the music. Kai didn't feel like listening to anything.

"You guys," Max started. "What's wrong? Why is it so quiet today? Normally I have to tell Tyson to shut up every minute."

"Well, Ray's not here," Forrest shrugged, her head buried in the supporter and looking outside the window. It was snowing, a little.

"That's not the problem," Max continued. He thinned his lips and shook his head. "Tell me."

Kai waited for Forrest to tell, but obviously she didn't. He didn't care. "Forrest's leaving." _Oops_.

"What?"

"I'm leaving." She confirmed.

"Leaving?"

He sensed chaos.

"Yes, I'm leaving the Japan, oh great country of the rising sun to go back to the U.S. of A," she rolled her eyes, impatient and very fidgety.

"When?" Tyson looked straight at her. She blushed slightly at the attention.

"After the tournament, of course," she smiled slightly. Awkward moment.

"So you were never going to tell us, were you?" Kenny frowned, he sat with Tyson in the second row. "How come Kai knew? How come you never told us? We have all the right to know! We're a team!"

"Yes you do, and I'm sorry," she paused, "but Kai heard it on accident."

"On _accident_," Tyson repeated. "Right. So how is this going to work, Chief?"

"Well, Ray is coming back to us—" Kenny started.

"Exactly! So me going won't affect anything. That's perfect," she gave an insecure grin.

The silence was short and _appreciated_.

"No it's _not _perfect," Kai hissed, his voice deep and harsh. Forrest stared like a dumbass. "Ray's missed all the things that we've been practicing.. _You_, Forrest, _you_ come and then _you_ go like it's not going to affect us. But it will and in many ways."

She closed her eyes. She didn't want to leave. She just had no choice. Japan wasn't her home; USA was and after being in Asia long enough, she realized that no matter how much of a hypocrite her dad was, Salt Lake City was where she started school, and where she will end her high school career.

She wanted to cry.

She opened her mouth but didn't speak. She sang. She sang the one song that she always sang, the one that made her feel happy because it made her feel loved.

"_I could not fathom that I would ever_  
_Be__without your love_  
_Never imagined I'd be_  
_Sitting here beside myself._"

Her words were lost, muffled by her sniffing. She turned away, scared to face her _friends_. "I'm s-sorry." She gave a sigh. No tears fell, not yet. "Do you guys r-really think that I won't miss you? That I just came here and then I would just leave? I have n-no choice. I-I can't choose for myself. I'm under 18 and I _don't _b-belong here. I don't belong here with you guys," she took out her blade from her pocket, "this is your life," she smiled faintly, "but not mine."

"Then what is your life?" Max asked.

"My life?" she shrugged, rubbing her eyes a little, "I'm just going to help my dad with his company while going to college. That's me. I'm not like you guys; I don't have material to become a p-pro blader like you guys." Her sobbing faded a little.

Max gave a pitiful grin, his blonde hair seemed a little darker. "We'll miss you."

"No," she shook her head, "I will miss _you_."

Somehow Kai felt that she was directing the comment at him. But he knew that he wasn't her only friend. _I'll miss you too. The house will be so empty_.

The rest of the car ride was in complete silence, even the subtle music was turned off. No one minded much. It was pretty somber anyway.

James helped them slide open the heavy door and gave them a hand to get off. After a thank you, the old man left, the black van slowly disappearing in the February fog.

Kai looked up at the stadium, pretty big in size and built in the shape of the Coliseum. He felt a tug on his sleeve so he turned his head around, seeing a head of black hair.

"Um," she still was embarrassed after knowing him for months, "just before I forget… I'll need some of my rent back 'cause I'm leaving early."

"Oh," he nodded.

_She's desperate_.

Cheers could already be heard from outside, the fans were really…fanatic. He heard a cough so he turned to the Chief.

"Alright you guys," Kenny started. "I've got the setup. We're playing at dish number 3 against the Sky Gliders. There are 8 matches going on at the same time so that it goes quicker. If you want to know, the White Tigers are at number 6 against some team called with no official name."

"What about the Slayers?" Kai simply asked.

"Oh," Kenny tried to remember, "yes, the Slayers on dish 1 against the Flameshields."

Tyson grinned proudly and cracked his fingers, impatient. "What are we waiting for?" He ran through the front door and the corridor that lead to dish 3. Making a right turn, he almost collided with the wall but stopped himself just in time. He grinned to himself and pushed the doors open. The cheers were loud.

"Bladebreakers!"

It was very overwhelming. Tyson flashed a grin in glory. They had much more fans than the Sky Gliders had. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about."

"Oh please, Tyson," the Chief took a seat like usual on the bench. "You're up first by the way. Show them some of your new moves."

"No problem!"

"His stupid ego," Forrest mumbled.

"Hey, that's not nice," Max elbowed her. "He's just excited."

Tyson held his launcher and beyblade ready. His feet were apart and stood there firmly. He looked at his opponent, a girl with a funny looking hat and a shirt with feathers drawn on it.

"Fellow beybladers!" the host exclaimed into the mike. It was a different host, some young looking guy with dark brown hair. "We have the Sky Gliders playing against the Bladebreakers! Good luck to both team. First up is Tyson from the Bladebreakers with his famous wind attacks and Lola from the Sky Gliders, also known for her wind attacks. This is going to be very interesting."

"Oh but I'm not going to use my wind attacks, not much at least," Tyson chuckled.

"Get ready! 3, 2, 1, let it rip!"

"Let it rip!" Lola yelled as she shot her blade into the dish.

The two blades collided in midair before landing on opposite sides of the simple steel dish. Suddenly, Dragoon began spinning another way, in a more zigzag pattern and Lola seemed surprised. She had studied Tyson's blade before but something strange was happening.

"Dragoon, Thunder Outrage!" Tyson screamed, his fists were clenched but still flashing a proud grin on his face. He was one tough cookie.

"What? No!" Lola panicked, "Meleiza, Silverdust!"

A glittery silver storm appeared. Dragoon charged forwards with full strength, almost unaffected by the wind attack because of the high speed that he was spinning at. Sparks shone above Tyson's blade, surprising his opponent.

There was a bright flash.

"Dragoon! Earthquake! Quick, while she's still weak!"

"No, Meleiza! Hold still!"

He felt the ground shake beneath his feet. All the practice paid off after all.

"Now finish her off!"

"No—"

Her blade flew out of the dish and landed dead still near her feet. She bit her bottom lip in shameful defeat and didn't say a word.

"Good match," Tyson told her, but he got no response back. The girl was too surprised by her lost.

"And Tyson wins 1 for the Bladebreakers!" the host exclaimed, "next shall be Mokuiu from the Sky Gliders against Forrest from the Bladebreakesr!"

Forrest erased the memories of almost shedding tears and put a bright smile on her face. _I can do this_. She flung her hair back and looked at her opponent, examining him closely. It was very tall boy, with a skinny build and very broad shoulders. His hair was of a silvery tone.

"Players ready?" the host didn't bother to get an answer, "3, 2," they were ready to launch, "1, let it rip!"

"Now!" the silver haired boy exclaimed as soon as his blade landed in the dish.

"You're in a hurry," Forrest smirked. "That's just too bad."

His bitbeast, a white-headed eagle with bronze armor, appeared and gave a high pitched roar. Its majestic air was almost scary. Its wings stretched far and flew in circles above the dish. Suddenly it dove down, its beak reflecting sunlight.

"No!" Forrest cried, "Starlet, Frozen Tornado!"

Cleverness helped a little. The storm weakened her opponent's attack, but not by too much. Devastated and lost for any ideas, she turned to look at her teammates, but no one seemed worried. The Chief wasn't even typing. Forrest bit her bottom lip.

"Once more, Starlet!"

But it was too late. The eagle dove down, with all its strength. The silver blade stood on the red one, destroying the glass part that protected Starlet. Forrest's opponent gave a quiet command. As she watched Starlet being beaten down in horror, she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Starlet, go teach him a lesson!"

It was a command, and a rather rash one but she couldn't take it anymore. Why do people keep ruining her? **She wanted to win.** She wanted to be worthy.

Starlet seemed undetermined at first, unsure of what to do but gave effort. He turned into a horse, a magnificent creature, and galloped. With enough energy, he shook the eagle off of him. Then he attacked, straight and with full strength. Around her blade, sparks were flying. Her opponent was in shock, literally.

"Thunder Outrage!"

"Block it with your wings!"

"No, you can break his defense!"

"Block him, you're strong!"

"Ignore them, Starlet, you know what to do!"

"Dammnit, stay strong!"

Forrest raised an eyebrow. She found it funny, how her opponent already cracked. She wasn't taunting him or anything but it seemed like verbally, he was no match for her.

Starlet roared and lifted his body up, his two front legs in midair and ready to stomp his enemy. Around the heavy armor that surrounded his legs were sparks, very visible and dangerous-looking. Forrest grinned. She felt evil, sort of. Finally, Starlet released all the energy; his weight concentrated on his front legs and nearly crushed his enemy. He did again, again, and again and every time he became stronger. Forrest was in no condition to give up, not yet. Some scratches were visible on her naked legs, red in color but no blood appeared; the bruises weren't so severe. With one last stomp, Starlet shook the earth, but it was to everyone's surprise that electricity ran through the bottom of the dish (steel conducts electricity) and shocked his opponent head on

"Wow," Forrest gasped in awe.

Her opponent finally fell; the mighty eagle lost its majestic air and its feathers fell from the sky. A defeated angel. But Forrest didn't care about the fallen splendor, pride took over her.

"Yes!"

The blade was completely blown away from the dish, landing near the benches. Forrest grinned and held no happiness back behind her mask.

She heard some muffled sound from her opponent but ignored him. Happiness ruined her.

"I did it!" she held Starlet in her hands and practically skipped back to the benches. She looked up at the announcer.

"Well, the Bladebreakers take this round with 2 wins!"

Kai gave a look, and a rather satisfied one.

"Great job," Kenny started. "You've improved a lot. It seems that the new blade paid off."

"Yeah," she grinned, "thanks Chief… and Dizzi too." The computer seemed to respond to her pride.

"Let's go," Kai was already up, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his scarf dancing in the soft breeze.

"Yes, we should," Kenny nodded in agreement, to Tyson's disappointment. The boy wanted to stay longer and appreciate the applauses. "We should separate ourselves. Tyson, you should go to the White Tigers' battle. Max you should go to stadium 8 for the Pierres. Kai, take the Dreams of Eden and Forrest to the Slayers. As for me, I need to enter more data, like how Forrest managed to channel two elements into one attack, which was brilliant."

Forrest flashed another proud grin. "Yes, I'll try to figure that one out somehow."

Kai gave her a look, meaning that she'd better before the semi-finals came up. He left, without looking back, and went straight to stadium 2. The crowd was energetic; some even had huge highlighter-colored banners. _Fan girls, how sad_.

He stood on the upper floor, in a dark corner, trying to hide from the fans. But still, some girls squealed at him, he moved away. Below him were the Dreams of Eden playing against the Beethovens. It seemed like there was a tie. Both blades didn't move much. There was a girl on the Eden's team against a short and fat boy from the Beethovens.

"Now!" the girl cried, her fists clenched.

"Follow her rhythm," the boy ordered, his eyes never left the two blades.

"Crystal Blast!"

The attack came, all of the sudden. A bitbeast appeared on top of her blade, small in size and Kai couldn't tell exactly what it was. He could, however, see that it had some kind of wings. The creature stretched its wings wide and gave a mighty roar. Crystals came out of nowhere and hit with full force. Pieces of the attack were destroyed, leaving the blade completely vulnerable. With one last hit, the other beyblade was sent flying, almost shattered.

"I thought that you were—" the boy started.

"Well, you were wrong. I was just trying to see how tough you were, sorry," the girl gave a pitiful look to her opponent before stepping back to her teammates. There was a small round of congratulations before the next player was sent up. It was a boy with light hair and a very silly grin adorned his handsome face.

"Kendall from Dreams of Eden against Michael from the Beethovens! Let's check out the stats."

Kai gave a glance. Their stats were almost equal; both had strong attacks, low defenses and medium endurances. _But stats are nothing. It's how much power they can get out of their bitbeasts_. He fondled with his pockets to held Dranzer in his warm palm.

The match started with two strong launches, both opponents seemed ruthless attack-wise.

"Sword of Justice!"

"Fortissimo!"

Swords appeared, becoming a shield for Kendall against his opponent. The musical attack came, but Kai was pretty sure that it wasn't music, it was just noise and very loud too. It was very irritating and the sound waves nearly cracked the dish.

"Launch, now!" Kendall cried, his arm pointing straight up.

His bitbeast followed the command, giving a roar and then unleashing all the swords that had been there. They all headed towards the other bitbeast and struck hard. Immediately, the enemy blade stopped spinning.

Kai was in awe, his hands were clenching on a metal bar and he blinked. _So much for hoping that they were a weak team with strong religious values_. He walked away from the scene, after giving one last glance at the Eden's team, looking straight into the team captain's eyes.

Kai _almost_ smiled at the competition.

* * *

Happiness still lingered on his heart. As always, a proud grin was on his face and he gave some chuckles. He headed towards stadium 8, where the Pierres were playing but halted. People were coming out of the stadium already, cheering on the winner: the Pierres. Max gave a shrug. 

"I guess that the match's over," he told himself before turning around and blending in the crowd.

He remembered that Kenny told them that the White Tigers played in stadium 6 so he made a sharp left turn and went to find Tyson.

"And Gary takes the win!" the host exclaimed, not too surprised.

Max scanned the big stadium, looking for a certain boy with red and yellow clothing.

"Ah, Tyson!"

"Yo, Max, over here!"

The blonde boy ran over to his friend and high-fived him.

"So have they improved?"

"Gary's not exactly in a good temper, you can relate," Tyson said.

"Totally," Max paused, "so who's up?"

"Well, Mariah, I guess," Tyson glanced at the teams, the pink girl already ready to launch her Galux.

"Go Mariah!" Max screamed like the crowd. "Just like old times."

"Yeah."

Mariah tilted her head and grinned, her sharp fangs showing and her cat-like eyes sharp. Her right leg backed up a step so that she could lean forward.

"Let it rip!"

She seemed to have roared, or meowed, as she launched her blade with full strength, fresh with a surprise attack. Her opponent was a chubby boy, seemingly confused. She had no clue how their team even got into the tournament. Sure, they had bitbeasts but they couldn't even get ten percent of the beast's power out. In other words, they were incapable.

"Galux, Scratch attack!" her pink hair blown by the wind and she didn't bother with the dust blowing around. She was used to the Beyblading, after all, she did grow up around it.

"Dodge it!"  
"Galux, he's on your right!"

There was a sharp meow and a loud screech.

The crowd stopped dead.

Both the attack and defense rings of the boy had been half destroyed; a slash across the outer ring, but Galux was merciful enough to leave the bitbeast _mostly_ unharmed. There was no mistake that Mariah had won.

"Tyson… I don't think that the Chief will be too happy about this," Max's eyes widened. "They've put up a lot of strength."

"Yeah," Tyson closed his eyes for a second, "and Mariah's not even the toughest…." He looked at Lee, with his weird Chinese clothes that showed his bare chest. "They look tougher than before."

"Let's go."

* * *

Forrest ran around the corner to the first stadium and pushed open the double doors. She stopped dead before hitting a metal bar and falling from the bleachers. She sweat dropped at her own clumsiness. Beneath her, a match had just begun. She felt the temperature rise so she unbuttoned her collar. 

"Blaze Joust!"

There was a boy, his hands curled into balls in determination and completely focused on the match. And there was girl, her soft colored hair flowing in the wind and her eyes swaying somewhere else. She didn't seem to care much. Suddenly, she turned around, her iris suddenly became thinner.

"It's time to stop playing," it was a command, her voice sharp but yet lovely at the same time.

_Aurora_, Forrest sighed. _Because of her… oh poor Ray_.

Aurora seemed to smile, her perfectly pearly white teeth in view. She saw her opponent shiver in fear. She was the ice queen.

"Show them the power of ice," she muttered, gritting her teeth a little.

Suddenly the bottom of the dish froze; a thick layer of ice covered it. The fire-beyblade tried to melt the ice but to no avail, the player sighed. The ice was so strong that it resisted fire.

"Try to keep up, Blaze Joust!"

"It's time," she laughed. Forrest pocked an eyebrow up. It was a familiar laugh, a total déjà vu moment. "Blizzard Annihilation!" But her bitbeast did not appear. _It isn't time yet_. Aurora looked up. _Well, there, there, a spy from the Bladebreakers._

The temperature dropped, shivers ran through her body but she kept watching. Aurora's silver blade spun so quickly. There was a sudden blast of cold wind, and another one after that. The opponent blade began slowing down. Forrest frowned. Around the attack ring of the fire-beyblade hung icicles, very small in size but they grew and the weight slowed down the blade. The camera zoomed in on the battle.

In some mere seconds, the top half of the blade was frozen and because the dish had already been frozen over, the blade couldn't spin well. And with the assaults that Aurora was giving her opponent, it seemed that the Flameshield player had no more choice but to throw in the towel.

But Aurora didn't let him go.

She gave a command, with a simple glare with her eyes. Her blade charged forward. In a flash, the other blade was shattered, completely ruined by the massacre. It was easy to shatter ice.

"What the hell…," Forrest's jaw hung in mid-air, in complete awe. "She… she… completely trashed his beyblade."

She didn't want to see any more of it. Without another look at anyone, or anything, and ignoring the moans and cheers of the crowd, she turned away, pushed the doors once again and found her way back to the front door, where she was supposed to meet the others.

After a minute of walk, she spotted them, already standing in a circle with Mr. Dickenson in the center.

"Well, look who's here!" Dickenson exclaimed, chuckling deeply and straightening his white moustache, "weren't the matches excellent today? And I must congratulate you on your wins, boys and girls."

"Sure," Forrest smiled, another fake smile.

"So how were the Slayers?" Kenny asked, interested.

"You should have seen them… I can't exactly describe stuff," Forrest gave an awkward look.

"Oh," the Chief seemed sad, "that bad?"

"Well, Kenny," Dickenson started, "if you want, I have recorded the matches so you can use them. I'll send you the tapes in a moment. Now excuse me, children. Good day!"

"Good day…," Tyson and Max muttered.

"He's getting weirder every day," Tyson gave a shrug.

* * *

Lukewarm water ran down her body, relaxing but yet not soothing enough to relief all her stress. There was so much going on. Her leaving, her friends not agreeing about that, her grades dropping badly, her dad's financial issues, her strange feelings about Kai. She liked him, sort of. She had to; they _lived _together. She pushed the shower curtains away and stepped out, her feet coming in contact with the cold tile floor. Goosebumps. 

With a reach, she grabbed for the closest towel. She turned the knob and pushed the door open, letting the steam flow out. She jumped on her bed and let herself relax against the velvety covers, not caring if the water dripped on her bed. Well, technically it wasn't her bed, but she didn't care.

She gave a glance and noticed a white piece of paper sitting at her night table. It was a check. She gave a smile.

"Thanks Kai." He couldn't hear her but she cared less.

She wiped her fingers dry on her towel and stared at the check, with the help of the small ray of moonlight that came through her curtains.

"Silly you, Kai, you're lucky that I closed the window. Or else your check would have flown out the window."

She suddenly jumped up and threw her towel away. Quickly, Forrest grasped for her pajama, which was carefully folded by Theresa and put it on. She even buttoned it wrong while dressing.

Forrest Fan was a real mess.

Sure, the house was quieter without Mrs. Hiwatari around and even though she did _dislike_ the lady, she didn't enjoy quietness either.

Stepping outside, she saw a head of blue hair, ready to enter his room.

"Hey, Kai, thanks," she started, looking at him, "but why did you give me extra money?"

He shrugged, his messy slate hair messier than ever.

"Please. I don't want you to pity me. You know what, you can take this back," she took a step towards him and held the check in her hand, which was stretched out to him.

"I just wanted to thank you…," he muttered, unsure of what to say.

"Thank me for what?" she pressed in.

He was really getting annoyed. He knew that he did it out of pity but if he had told her that, she would have gotten furious.

"For your friendship."

She frowned, her face red with fury, and her lips in a thin line. He expected a different reaction from her.

"So you think that money can pay back for friendship, huh?" her tone was flat.

He didn't reply.

"Kai. I don't need you to pity me," she started. He wanted to smack his head, knowing that such an answer would come from her. "Just… I appreciate the gesture and all but… you know me well enough that… well…"

He was glad that she had stopped talking. It became unbearable. Sure, he knew her, but in many ways, he didn't know her.

"You're a strange person," was his reply. Forrest cocked an eyebrow. "I just hope that it becomes useful to you one day."

"Money has its limits, you know," Forrest replied, her tone bitter. "You're like your mother."

"**No, I-am-not!**" he roared, furious.

Forrest took a step back in fear of his outburst. She gave him a nod, meaning 'goodbye' He watched her open her door once again, holding the check in her hand, but she didn't bother to tell him another 'thank you' like she normally would have. He waited 'till she was inside her room to speak. After taking a few steps towards her door, he sighed.

"I'm sorry."

_I'm such a bastard. I am like mother. I can't escape it. I'm not a Hiwatari, I'm a Black_. But his ego, of course, being a Black/Hiwatari, was bigger than his heart.

"Do you… hate me?" he asked, hopeful.

He heard a muffled chuckle from the other side of the door.

"I can't hate you, Kai _Hiwatari_," she said softly, he flinched at how she accented on his last name. "I think that I…"

He could have waited all night for her to continue her sentence. But she didn't… so he walked away, sorry that he left her with a bad memory about Japan.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Lyrics from We Belong Together by Mariah Carey, with the lovely voice. And yes, I'm not making a mistake, you've seen the lyrics before, I know that. 

I worked pretty hard to get out such a long chapter, I hope that you guys enjoyed it :) R&R-ing is appreciated, thanks.


	20. Lies and Revelations

**Author's Notes:** A special add on Valentine's Day. Sorry that it's sort of late. Whee, almost done with this fic! About two chapters left!

And yes, there is "party" in this chapter but no spin the bottle or any of those games.

* * *

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 20: Lies and Revelations**

**

* * *

**

There were fewer fans than usual; less screams, less cheer and less booing. He appreciated it for once, not that he noticed it much. The Bladebreakers played again, two days in a row as there were only eight teams left in the tournament. Each team had been eliminated one by one. It wasn't pleasant to watch.

But of course, they were still in the tournament. They were the world champion team.

Max played first, his blonde hair messy and blue eyes dreamy. It was hard to keep going with the tournament and school work at the same time.

"Let's hear for Max from the Bladebreakers!" there was a loud round of applause, some cat calls and cheering. "And Pierre—" the host sweat dropped, "well, Pierre Nguy from the… Pierres!"

Kai didn't even bother to mock the other team before the two opponents launched their blades. The Russian grunted. _Rock heads. Ego. _

"Show them what defense means!" Nguy muttered, his voice low and flat.

"No, let me do the favor," Max flashed a grin, his bleached teeth showing. "Draciel!"

The two charged at each other, head on. Draciel held on tight and didn't seem to be bothered at all by the attack. Nguy Pierre grunted.

"Fine," he hissed, "Rock Bomb!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Max held his ripcord tight, "Draciel, Phantom Hurricane!"

Draciel appeared, majestically, shining a purple-silver light. His arms seemed to extend like Dragoon's claws. And then, with one fast swing, he unleashed all the power.

"Oh yeah," Max winked and walked away, his blue eyes shining from excitement. "Oh boy that woke me up!"

"Haha, Maxie. Way to show them what you're made of!" Tyson patted his best buddy on the shoulders, "now, would you mind if I kick his butt with your attack?"

"Go ahead, Tyson!"

Kai shook his head to himself. _Why do I even bother?_ He glanced a look at the distant girl, who was currently glancing over Kenny's shoulders to look at Max's data. _She can't even read data._ He looked away, not wanting to think about the conversations that he had with her the previous night. Mostly one-sided conversations anyway. She stopped talking to him for a day or so. It was so awkward because he was always the one not talking, not _her_.

_At least she stopped babbling_.

"Wipe him out, Dragoon!"

Kai didn't bother to lift his head up; he knew that Dragoon would defeat Pierre anyway. _Which Pierre is this again?_ He grunted. His mind has been messed up recently. He never seemed to focus enough on anything and he started to lose edge on beyblading. _What's happening to me?_

"Kai?"

He looked from the corner of his eyes. It was Kenny.

"What?" he snapped.

"Uh, it's time to go. We've won," the Chief swallowed hard as he closed his laptop. Kai didn't want to hear Dizzi talk anyway.

_Fuck, what is wrong with me?_

_

* * *

_

"Kai!"

He looked up, from her pale legs to her messy shirt, to her chest then to her uncombed hair.

"Kai?" she seemed concerned.

"Sit down, will you?" he groaned. He hated it when people stood over him. It made him feel _inferior_.

"Oh…," she mumbled, taking a seat beside him on the wooden floor of the dojo.

Although, he wished that she'd say more.

"Kai, you okay?" Ray asked, arching an eyebrow very high.

"I'm fine," he replied, of course, being the cocky guy that he was, he didn't add a 'thank you' or anything.

"Kai, you haven't been listening to me all day," the Chief complained. "Tomorrow are the semi-finals! And all the teams are very tough! Dizzi's done all the—"

"Chief," Kai snapped, "there is nothing to worry about. Those teams are all worthless. Even Voltaire's team isn't good."

"I-I, alright. Let's just watch this…," Kenny muttered, his cheeks turning faintly pink from embarrassment.

He didn't understand Kai. No one did… much.

Kai got up from his seat. Forrest, Tyson and Max were all looking at the laptop screen, their eyes reflecting the image of a battle, more specifically a battle of the Slayers.versus the Astral Spirits. He felt the cool air blow past him. So soft yet so chilling.

"What day is it?" he wondered out loud.

"February… the fourteenth," Ray's eyes seemed to show as much happiness as his smile. "I gave Aurora her flowers."

"Flowers?" Kai's arm stretched to support himself from the wall.

"It's Valentine's Day," Ray chuckled, "wow, Kai. You _really _are out of it."

"Valentine's Day," he glanced innocently across the room with his eyebrow raised.

He saw Forrest's eyes flicked up for a second. They showed nothing more than apathy. _So she doesn't care_.

Kai closed his eyes and used his hands to guide him, his fingertips barely touching the cold walls. He traced to the corner and stepped outside of the room, fully enjoying the February breeze.

Ray gave a sigh behind him.

"It's almost over," the Chinese boy whispered, his sharp beastly teeth gleaming in the darkness.

Kai opened his eyes, and nodded to his friend.

"I was mistaken… to participate in this," Kai said.

"No. I think that it was meant to be," Ray flashed a grin. "This tournament helped me. It helped me get my relationship back with Aurora."

Kai gave Ray a quizzical look, no clue what the boy had just said.

"You see," Ray paused, "the tournament made us enemies but because I made a promise, it brought us back together. Beyblading was always the connecting factor between us. Aurora started beyblading for me, so that we could have fun together when we were little. She wasn't allowed at first because she was born a beauty, and her parents wanted her to stay that way and become a model but she didn't. She had a heart and a soul and made her own choices."

"Has she made the right ones?"

Ray gave a chuckle, his hot breath showing its silhouette under the moonlight.

"Are you kidding? We're happily together now. Of course she made the right choices," Ray shook his head to himself. "So what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Kai looked back at the room and grunted. Ray followed his gaze and smiled.

"Forrest, right?" Ray chuckled. "She befriends everyone Kai. She's not like you."

"Her friendliness doesn't bother me at all," the slate haired boy shrugged, "but her distant side does. She changes so quickly; her emotions jumping from one to another."

"Kai," Ray laughed, "she's a _girl_. We'll never understand girls." The Chinese boy gave a dramatic gesture. "Just… make the right choices and you'll be fine. Besides, we're only seventeen. What can happen?"

Kai didn't bother to reply this time. _Right choices_. For some unknown reason, the picture of his brother and mother came into his mind. _Business or beyblading?_

"Come on. We better watch the video of the battle before Dizzi gets mad."

Kai rolled his eyes slowly. "Why the hell should I be scared of a computer?"

"I heard that!"

* * *

It was dark and the gilded chandelier hanging from the vast ceiling was turned on the lowest level. But the room, ironically, was filled with a fresh yet intoxicating scent, slipping to her nostrils and waking her senses.

"Kai, this isn't funny," she started, her voice hoarse and weak, "I'm sorry that I forgot to tell you that I had to go out with my friends."

She looked around, squinting her eyes. "Uh, Shayna, Namiko, Janet and Emily are over. Do you mind if they stay for tonight?"

There was no response. From the corner of the eyes, she saw a figure flash by, quick and quiet. She gulped.

"Forrest, what's wrong?" came Emily's voice. Forrest turned around and saw the girl's round glasses reflecting the dim moonlight.

"Give me a second," Forrest mumbled as she finally found the light switch and turned it on higher. The first switch made the chandelier barely brighter so she turned another one on. "Well, I guess that Kai's asleep. I'll go get Theresa and she—"

"Forrest, look," Janet stared.

"What?"

Her eyes widened, and then she frowned. "What are those?"

"Rose petals," Shayna replied. "Am I the only one who's curious here?"

"No…," Namiko merely smiled. "They lead outside."

Forrest stood there dumbly while the other girls headed for the glass door that lead to the exterior. She could see the rose petals outside, trailing around the pool and disappearing. She gulped again. _Is this a joke?_

"Come on, Forrest!" Namiko urged.

"Right," Forrest shrugged to herself. "It can't be _that_ bad."

There was a swoosh and a fast wind, blowing all the rose petals together and creating an image so fantastically fake. The rose petals gathered and formed a heart on the floor, a perfect heart both in shape and color. The girls were in awe.

"I shall guide you," came a voice, almost chuckling.

Forrest gave a sigh of relief, it was Tyson. And he was definitely looking suspicious at the moment.

"What is this, a joke?" she muttered as she gave a last glance at the petals.

"No," Tyson said, more seriously but the boyish grin on his face couldn't be erased.

Namiko was first to follow Tyson, fearless, then Shayna followed. Forrest was third and examining the garden in the dark. _Did they do anything to this place? It feels so different_. Emily, giving an analytical look around, was shaking her head to herself. Janet was speechless, but, like always, a faint blush hung on her pale cheeks.

Her eyes widened as she saw light. There were lanterns, hanging from a cord tied to two tall trees.

"What's going on?"

"Well, we knew that you were going to leave us soon," Max said, appearing from behind the bush and grinned.

"Besides, it's Valentine's Day," Ray joined in, smiling such a mischievous smile. The girl noticed Aurora in his arms and they snickered.

"Game time," Tala appeared, his bright red hair glowing.

There was a table placed over the beyblade dish, sitting there strongly with some glass bottles over it.

"You guys have alcohol?" Forrest choked, "that's why you all seem so drunk…" Shayna gave a snort.

"No, just apple ciders," Tyson laughed. "Let's just have a nice game of cards or something."

"Cards? How pointless," Emily sniggered, unhappy. "Come on Max, you've got to be kidding me. I'd much prefer to beyblade right now."

"Emily, give it a break. It's pretty dark anyway and it's Valentine's Day!" Max smiled, like always.

Emily's eyes softened and gave a shrug. "Well too bad, 'cause you can't play." She tugged Max and dragged him to a rock where Ray and Aurora were.

"Just great," Forrest mumbled to herself.

Shayna and Namiko were already fired up for a second round of poker with Tyson and Tala. "Am I the only one who's a loner or what?"' Forrest exclaimed, pouting.

"No," came a shy voice. "Well, we might as well as just… join the game," Janet cast a look over to the couples, "we wouldn't want to bother with them anyway."

"Unless," Forrest grinned to herself. "Hey, Kai!"

There was a pause, where no one spoke, even the people playing cards quieted down. A grunt.

"Told ya," Forrest grinned. She walked over to the familiar tree, where she's seen Kai sitting on for hours and hours observing and thinking. "Come on, Kai. You can enjoy the night too. It's probably going to be the last one," she gave a sincere smile, hiding the regrets.

He jumped out of tree, causing Forrest to gasp and take several steps back. Quickly, he wiped some dust on his pants and looked away. "Fine. Only because you're leaving."

"Well, that's nice," Janet mumbled, blushing a deep crimson, which, luckily for her, was hidden in the dark.

They settled at the table, waiting to join the next game.

"Hey you guys, wanna add some risks into this?" Tyson suggested as he shuffled the cards.

"I've no money, sorry," Forrest replied on instinct.

"No, not money. More like dares," Tyson laughed.

"Uh, no thanks," Janet replied.

"Can't be that bad," Shayna shrugged, her mischievous smile evident.

"I agree with Janet. That game caused lots of troubles," Forrest looked away, not wanting to elaborate.

"If you mean trouble with you and Kai," Tala smirked, "then I'd like to play."

Namiko stared. "You guys have a …history together?" she pointed to Forrest and then to Kai.

"No," Forrest giggled nervously. "Just bad memories." She looked at Kai but he didn't seem to care at all. In fact, he wasn't even looking at the cards that Tyson just distributed.

"Fine, you party poopers," Tyson groaned, "let's just do cider shots."

"You're going down Tyson," Namiko challenged. Forrest chuckled and gave a glance at her cards.

_Bad memories? Stop lying to yourself, Forrest._

_

* * *

_

"Are you guys sure that you don't want to stay?" Forrest asked once more at the door. "I don't think that Kai would mind," she gave a look at the boy in question.

"No, I'll just drop them all off, thanks," Ray declined smiling before shutting the double heavy doors slowly and quietly.

It was past midnight. Sometime around two o'clock and normally, Kai would have been angry that they stayed up so late before the tournament but he didn't seem to mind this time. He _actually_ had some fun. Mainly because he made Tyson choke on apple cider about ten times. He wasn't a good drinker but, come on, _apple ciders_? Piece of cake.

"Well, night, Kai," Forrest grumbled before giving a big yawn and rubbing her eyes. She stretched like a cat.

"Er, wait."

She stopped dead, looking at him curiously. "What?"

He walked towards her, slowly, as she took a step back, feeling claustrophobic. Slowly, he opened his palm and dropped something in her hands. She felt his cold fingertips brushing against her numbly before he withdrew and looked away. She flinched.

"What is—"

He turned back and seemed to hesitate. "Happy Valentine's Day," his tone quickly changed, regaining his formal attitude, "enjoy it for now. Tomorrow's going to be harsh."

For a second, she'd noticed how much better his English has gotten. But then again, he was never that bad at it. Carefully, she unwrapped the small box. Inside if was a spherical crystal bottle with light cursive engraving on it.

"It's… perfume," she whispered, confused.

_What, I don't smell good?_

"You don't like it?" he asked. She immediately shook her head. But still, he doubted her. "It's a traditional Japanese one. You know, sakura scent. I thought that you'd like a memory from Japan."

"Oh," the corner of her lips perked up. She giggled a _true_ feminine giggle. "You do know that when you give someone a Valentine's Day gift, you need to ask them to be your valentine."

"Really?" he paused. He gave a frown, no clue what she'd just said. "Be my Valentine?"

Forrest smirked. She wished that she had a recording of that. "Do you know what that means?"

"No…," his low voice trailed off as he looked at her. "I'm going to sleep."

"You really don't know any Western traditions do you, Kai?

The question was left unanswered.

She could have told him to wait. She could have grabbed on his soft tunic shirt. Her fingers would have trailed up to his collar and then reach for his tender neck. She could mark him as her own. She could have closed her eyes and smell his fresh cologne and fall into a bottomless pit of fantasies. There could have been an unforgettable kiss. A deep moan. A soft sigh. Then a quiet sob.

But there was nothing. Nothing at all.

Except for…

"Kai," she closed her eyes and felt a strange cold breeze fly by, "I-I th--" she stopped, unable to speak.

In the silence, she heard him clear his throat; he was rather impatient.

"I think that I like—" she looked down and blushed.

"My gift?" he added. He sounded rather annoyed.

"Yes, yes," she piped, looking up again and grinning from ear to ear. _Screw this_.

_Another fake smile, Forrest Fan_.

"Thank you so much for the gift. It's a great souvenir."

_Stop lying, Forrest Fan. I can see it. The dark can't hide your feelings, you know that. It can't hide the fact that you're blushing, or the fact that you don't even like perfume. But your gratitude…it's enough. Good enough for a friendship._

"Oh, I hope."

* * *

A soft tap on his shoulders.

He flinched. _Not already…_

"Kai, grandson," came the familiar voice.

"What do you want, Voltaire?" he spun around quickly, glaring at his _relative_ coldly.

"Don't make the same mistake twice. You still have time to change sides by not playing. You have no clue what you are up against," the old man seemed so weak, supported by his black cane. But he stood strong, and Kai knew how strong Voltaire truly was; how his manipulative power could control anyone. Even him.

"Then I'll make sure that I play," Kai hissed. "Good day to you."

"Yes, good day. It will be pleasant to see you lose."

He was getting tiresome of all the trash-talk meetings that he had with his grandfather. Was it even possible to make peace? He grunted.

It was the next day already, and the events of Valentine's Day were quickly erased as they rose early to train a little.

The stadium was already crowded; it was the semi-finals after all and people always liked to watch those. The crowds were much more energetic than last time. The cheering was intense and the suspense was too.

The Bladebreakers were facing the Slayers. Finally.

He could tell that Forrest was dead nervous. It was her last battle here and he understood partially. They all wanted to win but for Forrest, it was just more special.

"Hey Max," Kai started, "let me play first."

"Oh, alright," Max backed away. "That means that I'm playing third, right?"

Kai nodded, giving the blonde boy some sympathy. "I have to show Voltaire the true power of Dranzer."

He saw Forrest look away. He didn't understand her at all. Why should she be embarrassed at a time like this?

"Bladebreakers and Slayers, send your players up!"

Kai was determined, his fists clenched and his white scarf waving behind him. He frowned. He was battling the other team captain, Pierce Kata.

_They must have known that I was playing first. Voltaire, you think that you'll win. But this is more than just a battle of pride. I will show you. I will show you that I'm not just good for the money. I'm **real **good. Better than you._

"Players ready!" the host exclaimed into the mike. "There will be three matches to conclude this round of the semi-finals. The one who wins two matches out of the three first wins. Then it goes on," he paused, "well, here we go!"

Kai positioned himself and ran his hand through his messy slate hair. He heard some scream from some _scary_ fan girls. They even had a sign that read 'I love you Kai!' with pink and magenta hearts stamped on it.

"3, 2, 1, let it rip!"

Kai leaned forward and unleashed all the power that he withheld from not playing in the previous matches. He was flaming, baby.

His opponent, the infamous Pierce Kata, was merely smirking with pride, like he knew something that Kai didn't.

"Dranzer!" Kai roared.

The red phoenix appeared, magnificent both in color and grace. Her body ablaze, Dranzer charged forward with full strength head on. She let out a shriek and a determined roar.

There was a blinding a flash, so sudden and invisible.

It was over.

"Where's your power?" Kai spoke, his voice low and tense.

Pierce laughed. A laugh that Kai used to let out when he was scared but it hid every emotion. It made anyone look _evil_.

"Ahaha! Do you think that that's it?" Pierce's eyes shone, "I haven't unleashed the power of my bitbeast yet. Wait 'till you see the _true _power!"

"Your bitbeast? The slow obese bear? Its speed cannot match to Dranzer's, don't be stupid and give up. Voltaire is only using you."

"No. You don't even know. You don't even know what your own grandfather is planning, how pathetic," Pierce spat. And that shook the last of Kai's nerves, but the host screamed into the mike again.

"Well we've got some trash talking going on! How delightful," he chuckled, "alright, the second match of this round will be in order. Players ready!" Kai shot daggers at Pierce and vice-versa.

"Let it rip!" Kai roared, his ripcord probably broken from the way that he pulled it. His eyes started hurting because of the way that he was glaring but he didn't care. That guy bugged him _too_ much. "Fire Arrow!"

He observed the other blade spinning… so… _perfectly_. It was impossible. Pierce didn't lose his cool, not at all. His bronze beyblade seemed so… victorious.

"No!"

Slasours evaded the attack. **No, this wasn't Slasours**. Kai's seen this blade in battle before and it moved nothing like this. _This isn't right_. This perfect movement. This… simple perfection. It can't be...

"Are you up for a surprise?" Pierced taunted.

"I was born ready for anything," Kai responded. He closed his eyes and tried to sense the aura. _I knew it. Voltaire, this is getting old_. "Just unleash it. You can't even manipulate the power. Unleash it. Unleash it. Unleash it! Black Dranzer!"

"I will give you a point for finding that out, but you are going down! Black Dranzer!" Pierced hollered, his eyes glaring intensely and never blinking.

"Voltaire was stupid. So stupid," Kai said, "only I can unleash the full power of Black Dranzer!"

Kai gave the laugh. The evil laugh and for a second, he felt like Boris and Voltaire were both standing beside him, like back at the Abbey. "Black Dranzer was made for me. I destroyed it. You have no right to claim it!"

"You were wrong Kai," Voltaire appeared from the dark, his silver-gray hair duller than ever, "you cannot destroy the bitbeast, ever."

"Do you really think," Kai laughed, "that a normal blader like him can maneuver the great power within that bitbeast? He won't even be able to unleash the bare attack!"

Kai crossed his arms in front of his chest. "This was the gravest mistake that you ever made, Voltaire."

"Kai, calm down!" came a shout, worried. He turned around, noticing a bit of _sanity_.

It was her. Her eyes worried and almost filled up with tears. Did she know about him? Him and his vulnerable past? Did she know about Black Dranzer and how much he still felt drawn to perfection?

"I'm not going to make another mistake, Forrest," he smiled. He truly smiled. It wasn't like the evil laugh. He was smiling for her, for all the friendship and care that she's given him in the past months. "I was born ready for this," he sniggered, "maybe this tournament isn't such a waste of time after all."

He turned back and looked into his opponent's eyes and then to Voltaire. "You need more than a dark memory to defeat me. Look what you turned your own family into. Enemies, Voltaire, enemies. Are you proud of yourself? Well, I'm not."

Dranzer roared and her red coat glimmered. On the other side, Black Dranzer seemed to disappear and reappear.

"You're losing control, Pierce," Kai mocked. "You aren't worth it."

"No, I am worth it! I can control this, I know that I can, I just need to stay cool," Pierced muttered. The crowd was silent, so silent that Kai could hear the unevenness of Pierce's breaths.

"Final attack!"

"Final attack!"

"No… Kai!" Forrest got away from Kenny's grasp on her and ran to the middle of the stadium. She coughed loudly and shielded her face from all the dust and flame. The whole stadium suddenly smelled of fire extinguishers as firefighters rushed in quickly. They sprayed a chemical liquid around and mumbled something between themselves before disappearing.

The cloud of smoke slowly evanesced.

He let out a grunt.

She laughed. _You stupid Kai_.

His dark blue blade spun in the middle, proud, but slowly. The bronze beyblade was down, broken in half and the bitchip over it cracked at the center.

She looked at her teammates and saw Ray urging her to go Kai. She did.

She stood over his body, his limp body and her eyes widened. He was hurt; his muscle tee was ripped and his scarf was no longer white. Blood tainted his face, his lips, his shirt, his shiny belt. Although he frowned, a sweet smile lingered on his lips. His slate and blue hair was messier than before but he didn't mind at all. _No more Black Dranzer._

The tip of the white scarf was on fire so Forrest quickly put it out with her hands. She gasped in pain at the hotness but didn't bother too much with it. **Kai was more important.**

She smiled at his tired and sweaty face but he was still Kai; he still looked so determined and cold.

"Come on you big baby," she tugged on his sleeve.

His auburn eyes opened quickly and flashed confusion. She gave him a weak smile before wrapping her arms around his shoulder to help him up, just like he once helped her out after her tryouts for the team.

"You didn't have to…," her voice trailed off.

"No, I had to," he replied, stubborn. "Voltaire can't—"

"You're hurt," she stated and hushed him. "You're too weak to speak. Just get up."

"But I had—"

_It's time_.

- - -

She sighed and felt the blush creep up her cheeks as she tasted the almost-dried blood on his lips.

She finally did it. After all this waiting, she took all her courage and did it… before all these people but she didn't care. Her eyes were filled with unwanted tears as she merely scanned the stadium. The crowd was quiet and the 'I love you Kai!' signs were lowered. The fan girls groaned in jealousy and disappointment.

_I really, really like you, Kai Hiwatari_.

_One must sacrifice many things in life, Forrest Fan. What will you sacrifice?_

_

* * *

_

**Author's Notes: **Medium length chapter. Romance for you lovelies. **_Drop a review, thanks. _**


	21. Her Final Blow

_It's time._

* * *

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Chapter 21: Her Final Blow**

* * *

His weight was heavy against her arms and she was barely strong enough to support him. She felt so _weak_. 

_But I am weak._

One second he was in her arm, secure and relaxed, another he was lying on the white rigid stretcher and being carried away by Russian men dressed in white coats and masks.

"Farewell, Kai…"

She looked at her teammate and was glad that she wasn't alone; they were sad too. Tyson looked at Kai's limp body, now being carried away from the stadium, and Max was staring at his white sneakers. Ray had a thin smile on his lips, a smile full of pity and regret. Kenny was calmed by Dizzi, who was urging for Forrest to continue to fight. To fight for Kai.

"Go," Ray gave a commanding look. His raven braid was swung slowly from side to side as Ray tried to find words of concern to speak. But he couldn't find much. "Kai's going to be fine. Make his win worthwhile," the Chinese boy paused and grinned, his fierce tiger-teeth showing, "he chose you to win."

Forrest stood there, her knees so weak that it was a miracle that she was standing up. She could still taste Kai's blood on her lips. That taste of rust and death… _No_.

"Now for the second round of the semi-finals! Forrest from the Bladebreakers against Aurora from the Slayers!"

Slowly, she closed her eyes. _This is my time to shine_.

"I'll cheer you on," Ray muttered, "even if Aurora is my girlfriend." He winked but Forrest was too busy thinking to notice.

"Yeah," Tyson added, although not looking at Forrest, but she was gratified for his support, "we'll be behind you if you need help. Right, Chief?"

"Dizzi and I will make sure that we analyze all of her moves as soon as we can so don't worry. We have your back," Kenny didn't smile, but it was enough.

She took a step with courage towards the dish. It was like the spotlight was on her; just like when she performed. Only then she truly felt like she was at _home_.

"This is where I belong. My friends, my life, my everything. When this will be over, everything will be back to normal, like they should be."

The dish was changed; it was now silver with sprinklers installed in it.

"Are you done with all that soul-searching?" Aurora merely smiled, her glossy lips forming a perfect curve.

"Of course," Forrest replied, matching her sweetness.

"And we're set to go!" the host started once again. "Now this dish is extraordinary. Sprinklers were installed for obstacles and a mist creator at the center. Beybladers be ready to put all your trust within your blade and prepare for a battle of a lifetime! If the Slayers don't win this one, they will be out!"

"You _will _lose."

"Such confidence, heh?" Aurora was expressionless but Forrest could see the unusual flare in her eyes.

"Ger ready! 3, 2, 1, let it rip!"

"Full attack, Starlet!"

"Let's start with a little snowstorm, shall we?"

Aurora was bugging her, so much. That girl's simple pure and innocent voice, her woman-like body and picture perfect smile. She was shy, beautiful, knowledgeable, artistic, and a prodigy in every way. But when it came to beyblading, she was _different_.

What was a strong spray of water a second ago became icicles. The mist machine started working. Forrest didn't mind the mist at all, in fact, it calmed her. She could still feel Starlet moving, his every movement, spin, glide and attack. She could feel every collision against Aurora's silver blade and the pain was almost unbearable.

"Fire Tornado!"

"Haven't you learn, little spy? That fire doesn't work against ice," Aurora flashed a grin.

It was like the match was being replayed in slow motion. Forrest could feel the silver blade attacking her red one.

"You're down, little spy."

"I'm not… a spy," Forrest muttered.

But she knew that Aurora was right. Her own reputation wasn't better than one of a spy anyway. She only beybladed for fame; not friendship, nor for teamwork.

Aurora might have been an ice queen. But the girl was still a _queen_. Forrest was just a peasant, not good enough to even look into her opponent's eyes. Nothing seemed fair.

But Forrest did look into Aurora's eyes, just for a second.

They were ice blue, the color of winter.

"That's not possible."

Forrest blinked.

Aurora's eyes were back to the yellow-green of spring. It was so weird, so unusual, so… familiar.

She lost was in her thoughts, again and again. Her eyes looked blanked and she tried to concentrate on the battle, but it was _so _hard.

"Blizzard Annihilation!"

She jerked up at the pain, the cold icicles slashing across her stomach, she clutched it tight, groaning.

In front of her was not a mist anymore; it was a snowstorm, a blizzard and she couldn't feel Starlet warm presence at all.

"_No_..."

Slowly, Aurora smiled and closed her eyes innocently and just stood there, waiting. Her honey hair fell over her naked shoulder and Forrest gawked. She was jealous, so jealous of Aurora. She was jealous of how her hair resembled a waterfall, of how she could make any boy who passed by look at her, of how the girl, no, the woman's smiles were perfect and how she never lost her cool. And now, she just stood there, her head seemingly drooping over the scene, as if she was asleep. Forrest gritted her teeth.

Aurora was just... simply superior. There was no mistake about it.

As she snapped back to reality, the mist had cleared, the _whirr_-ing of the machine was gone and only the cold winter air flowed. Starlet was down, broken, but still reparable while the silver blade spun steadily.

"Aurora takes the match!"

_Stop stating the obvious, you jerk_, Forrest fumed. She blew some strands of hair from of her face and stepped away. She was ashamed, ashamed of losing and ashamed of losing the chance the Kai gave her.

"It's okay."

He really was sweet; his tiger-like features glowed softly as he leaned over the Chief's laptop. "You have a secret weapon."

"Really?"

"You need to learn to trust your bitbeast," Dizzi spoke.

And Forrest thought that, even though it was a simple sentence, it has been the wisest thing that she's heard in years.

_Maybe I fight for trust?_

No matter how cheesy it sounded, she felt like she was on the moon, her existence drifting away from the earth. But the thing was, she didn't want to go. She wanted to stay there, with her friends, with her passion, with _trust_.

As she felt a pat on her shoulder, she turned around and smiled, a smile perfect like Aurora's.

"It's time. We trust you and we know what you're capable of," Max grinned as he spoke; he never looked more confident. Forrest was so glad, so glad that they had confidence in her. She wasn't the weakest link anymore; she was part of the team and deserved to be.

"Just use your advantages and you'll be fine," the Chief gave thumbs up.

Without looking back again, Forrest turned around and walked to the dish, more prepared than ever.

"Players, ready?" There was no answer. "3, 2, 1, let it rip!"

"Starlet, Fire Tornado!" her lungs were burning from shouting so much. Her salty tears were completely dry over her cheeks and her bloodshot eyes flared.

"When will you learn?"

"Oh, but I shall teach you," Forrest smirked, "right now."

Aurora didn't retort back; she simply stood there, ordering her bitbeast with her frozen stare. Forrest kept attacking, hit after hit, but as she realized that Aurora wasn't even flinching, she stopped, confused, waiting for something to happen.

The crowd was mostly quiet, but some murmurs were spreading around. The host was confused himself and abandoned the mike as he looked over the stadium.

Then she spoke, her _warm_ voice.

"It's time, for you to rise," her arms were stretched in front of her and it seemed that she was summoning a ghost, like in movie.

Soon, Forrest saw a shimmering silhouette, an image of pure silver and blue. A silver tail, light blue pointy ears, sharp silver claws, a light blue stomach. And bloody eyes. She flinched. A déjà vu, a clarification.

"It's you, it was you!"

"What?" her voice still sounded innocent, but her eyes, however, weren't.

Forrest knew her, she wasn't Aurora anymore. She was someone else, someone from a nightmare that she had months ago.

"Fire Tornado, Thunder Outrage!"

"You can't use two attacks at once, silly girl," the words flicked off of her tongue gracefully.

Forrest just glared and watched Starlet making his greatest effort to keep and launch a double-attack. _Maybe I'm pressuring him too much_.

Aurora shook her head in disagreement, her hair swinging from one side to another. Forrest could see the transformation, from the honey warm hair to the ice streaked hair. There was nothing left in the real Aurora, nothing at all. Everything now was all an illusion, the ice, the blizzard, everything.

"So this is it," Forrest told herself. She looked up, straight into the bitbeast's red eyes. "Who are you? Why do you carry so much power? Isn't a burden?"

"Power is never a burden," Aurora replied. Her voice, now, became different too.

Everything changed about her opponent. She was unrecognizable. "You're not Aurora, are you? You've possessed her."

"Took you long enough," Aurora—no, the bitbeast's eyes flashed.

Once honey brown hair danced in the wind, lightly, but now, icicles replaced them and looked sharp and dangerous. Her lips weren't curved into a smile anymore, one corner tugged in exaggeration. Aurora was smirking, and that smirk sent shivers down Forrest's body. Her nails seemed to have grown longer, and her features much sharper.

Scared, Forrest looked back at her teammates. There was something wrong. This was like the dream... except... except that someone was missing. She felt reality hit her hard and a whip strike against her back. She froze.

"I'm sorry, Kai. I'm so sorry."

She was truly sorry, the sorry that could replace a million years of other apologies.

Suddenly, she tasted blood.

A slash laid there, across her breasts and she backed. She touched her chest softly and gasped. There was a cough, and a splatter of blood on the floor.

_No_.

She looked at her hands, guiltily tainted with blood, her own blood, and then she looked at Aurora.

_Why?_

The ice queen laughed, such a familiar laugh.

But she cried. Every emotion flowed out of her, pouring over the beyblading dish and over all the people who were in the stadium. It was just her and her enemy, not one else. _Well, maybe Kai is here_.

Then, there was another attack, slow but powerful. She felt the effects immediately; she was paralyzed. Her eyes were wide-open and as she tried to move... nothing happened. She didn't collapse but she didn't seem to be able to stand.

"We need both fire and thunder, Starlet. Please, I have strength. I believe in you."

It was like the dream, those exact words enunciated perfectly.

"You don't have enough, Forrest Fan," the bitbeast said, its voice monotone.

"Oh, yes, I do."

In her mind, she pictured Kai smiling. That was enough to brighten up her whole day, no matter how horrible the blizzard was.

As Starlet stomped one more shot of electricity across the dish, Forrest concentrated.

"It is time—" she started.

"Yes, it is time for me...," Aurora muttered, "Final Desctruction!"

"Inferno!"

Her final attack came, a joust of sudden fire, a spirit reviving within her. It was warm like him, like his soft touch, his kind words, like how he used Dranzer to warm her, like how _safe _she felt wrapped in his arms. Those were the only cherished moments she had. But she had no choice and as she relived through them quickly, she could feel her body wanting to charge forward, in coordination with Starlet's. Flame wrapped around her and the heat was intense. She could feel the explosion of ice daggers slashing her knees, her arms, her head, her chest, her stomach, her ankles and every other part of her body that she could think of. But that didn't matter, because they **trusted **her.

They were still there, behind her, rooting her on. She could imagine the Chief typing vigorously on his laptop and Tyson telling her what she should have done and Max smiling to himself while shouting and Ray's tiger-featured face full of joy. She could imagine Kai, with his genuine smile, and being so proud of her.

"This is, for you, Kai."

An immense pain.

A crash.

A collision.

A slash across her thigh.

A scream from Aurora.

The ice and fire battled on.

But in the end, the fire ruled and the ice turned into cool water, shapeless and powerless.

* * *

Her eyes turned yellow-green then back to blue then... completely shut. Aurora felt backwards, her fallen beauty breaking apart and bringing her down with it. There was a howl, a lonely howl, and then mutters of hysteria. 

The stadium exploded with confusion.

"Well—this," the host breathed hard into the mike and could not speak.

The sirens rang loud into the Bladebreakers' ears but no one cared. Their eyes focused on a silhouette, hidden by the disappearing blizzard. Ray stepped to the dish, his fists clenched. He was completely furious. What had Aurora done?

Forrest's hair was completely drenched, clumped together unattractively but a smile lingered on her lips, a light and soft smile. He didn't get a chance to check her pulse before men dressed in white pulled her away from him, just like they had pulled Kai away.

"I still trust you Forrest," Ray nodded to himself, "you battled well."

Of course, she didn't hear him.

No one knew what exactly happened in the world of fire and ice but the Bladebreakers had a big clue, seeing the state of Forrest's red beyblade.

"Well, the match goes to Forrest from the Bladebreakers, and," the host paused, "we couldn't locate Aurora's beyblade, so...," his voice trailed off. He gave a cough. "Alright, folks, that was very, very exciting! Tomorrow, the Bladebreakers will face the Dreams of Eden in the finals!" he sighed in relief, "if the matches are going to be this exciting, I'm going to faint."

There was a round of cheering and applauding. The cameras captured faces full of concern. Even the fangirls looked sympathizing. It was surprising how everyone was so compassionate.

Ray lifted his head slowly and sighed. His heart pounded heavily against his chest and ribcage. He looked at Aurora and waited for her to meet his eyes.

She did.

And it was really her, not the bitbeast. Her sweet honey hair was dirtied and her eyes dull. A white streak formed down her cheeks; her foundation was wiped away by the trails of tears that fell from her tired eyes. She was crying, sobbing, collapsing.

He rushed forwards and with his strong arms caught her.

He felt her against his arms and hugged her tight. She felt safe, in his arms, and only in his.

"I'm sorry that I brought you into beyblading," Ray murmured, his lips barely moving.

Aurora coughed, and blood came out. The red liquid dripped over Ray's white clothes but he didn't care. He supported her in his arms and it seemed like they were the only people in the whole entire world. He felt her heartbeat next to hers and her heavy breaths.

"It's my fault," Ray added, "let's forget about this, alright?"

Aurora closed her eyes and sighed.

"Wo ai ni, Kon Ray."

He smiled. She sure knew how to make him lighthearted and happy like a young boy.

"I love you too," he smiled softly but his features became serious again, "but this isn't the time. I need to get you to the hospital."

"I—"

She stopped speaking abruptly as she saw the men come over to her. She gave Ray a look with her eyes and smiled. With his help, she laid down on the white stretcher and waited for the doctors to carry her away. Her wounds were quickly nursed with some bandages and they carried her off.

He stared at her silhouette, evanescing. They all left him. His girlfriend. His friends. His _unbelievable_ friends. Then it hit him. It was his fault all along.

"I'm so sorry, Kai, Forrest, and Aurora."

_There was only so much that you could sacrifice, Forrest Fan. But you did more than you were meant to do. Maybe you'll be rewarded one day. Who knows._

* * *

**Author's Notes: **-takes breath in- Sorry for the wait. Well... it's over. The epilogue will be up when I feel like it. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I tired to plug in motifs, themes, symbolisms and all that crap. I think that my English class is getting into my head. And all the civilization vs. savagery from Lord of the Flies is absolutely... disturbing. 

I really, really, want a review on this chapter because, well, what the heck. All authors want reviews.

I know, it's sad. And if it wasn't sad for you, I'm sorry. But I tried to make it depressing. If you had no clue what happened, just wait for the next chapter and that should clear you up.

Thanks for the 30 alerts.

And I'm almost to the 100,000 words point. :) Love.


	22. The Truth Is

I'm so sorry guys that this took so long to write. I hope that you'll like it. So... this is the end.

* * *

_Where is the replay button?_

_When can I relive all this?_

_But the main question is... how did this happen?_

* * *

**Safe, In Your Arms**

**Epilogue: The Truth Is...**

* * *

It wasn't even dawn yet. Or so he thought. The thick curtains were drawn over the windows and no one could tell. 

But he was up, sitting straight up in his bed. Well, technically, not _his _bed.

He hated it, the smell of the hospitals, the white sheets—that were used thousands of times before, the nurses ignoring the patients as they talked to some handsome doctor. Kai watched the woman, dressed in white-everything, swinging her hips and shutting the door chicly. It was just disgusting.

The bitterness of the medicine was left unnoticed. Kai, at the moment, cared more about the numbness in his arms and chest. He was almost paralyzed. They didn't tell him what was wrong; they only told him to rest. They _always _do that. He hated that too.

Slowly, he looked out the window and propped his numb legs on the nightstand. It wasn't dawn. He was wrong, once again. The sun was high in the skies.

Suddenly, a door opened quickly and a rolling bed came in. There were panicky murmurs and a shout. Kai flinched. _Oh dear God._

"What's going on?"

"Nothing—" replied the assistant-doctor.

"Put her here, go, go, shoo!" the other one shouted, pushing the nurses and doctors out of the room. "You make sure that she stays here."

"Oh—" the door was shut, "kay."

They disappeared again.

He glanced over at the bed; he could see a female form underneath the white sheets. Her face was covered over by the sheet and supported by a firm looking pillow. She was asleep, just asleep. He shook his head.

"They can't put a dead person in here." He told himself.

He stretched his legs, it was about time anyway, and went to the bed with curiosity. He slowly lifted the white veil from her face—

"Oh my fucking God."

Her cheeks barely contained the deep slash across them. Another one ran down her neck to her bare shoulders. Her body was almost naked, her petite chest rose up and down as she tried to breathe, loudly at first but she relaxed after a while. Her skin seemed even paler than the white sheets. It looked... transparent, as if she was fading away.

He shivered.

It took him minutes to figure out who she was, or ... maybe even hours. But during that time, she didn't budge.

"Damn."

With pity in his eyes, he sighed. He leaned towards her and let his fingers trail over her bloody cheeks. He couldn't feel any heat from her. Nothing. Just the slow and cold breaths that she emitted. Maybe he should have given her CPR. His fingers lingered around her neck, a scar that he had touched before with his lips... by mistake. She was too pure.

But so different compared to his memories of her.

Her skin was dead dry. Her killer black hair was in no better condition. The grease on her hair built up. But he didn't care. She wasn't smiling like she usually was but she didn't look miserable either. It was certainly her charm.

"She's not..." he shivered.

"No, she's not," came a voice.

He flung around, almost knocking over some bottles of medicine from the table. Luckily, only a pair of scissors fell on the tiles, creating a sound waking him from his senses. With his injuries, he was never as quick as before.

A petite woman came in sight. Her dark hair was messily hanging from her head and dark circles were around her eyes. She looked like Forrest. He _wished_ that she was Forrest. But she wasn't.

"Jacqueline Fan," he said and nodded to her. "An honor."

"Don't bother," she replied, "we've met already."

Her beauty was still there. After all, she was an actress. But she had no traces of any makeup or elegant clothing on her body. She was messy just like Forrest. _It's their genes_.

"Do you know--?" he started.

"No, I don't know much but a bit more than you do," she seemed to be in a hurry as she cut him off. "I won't stay here for long but I need to inform you that I'm taking Forrest back to America."

"But she's still in bed—" he got cut off once again. His eyes widened in annoyance. Can't she give him a break? He was still a patient after all.

"It doesn't matter. She needs the best care in the world and in the U.S. there's better technology and—"

This time, it was Kai who interrupted her.

"Do you really think that she needs _technology_?" he mocked. His voice grew louder and louder as he enunciated each word clearly. "She doesn't need _technology_!" he began shouting. "She needs _someone _TO CARE FOR HER!" He remembered how foolish he was, trying to buy her friendship while in reality, Forrest needed nothing of that.

Jacqueline was taken back but did not speak a word. Kai took that as a cue to continue.

"**She will not be happy that you've taken her away from everyone that she loves!**" the slate haired boy roared.

"Who does she love here?" Jacqueline suggested. "You?" Her head was held high.

"No I mean—"

Jacqueline took over again.

"Look, you're not the one in charge here. First of all, you're a minor. And you're not supposed to care about her. Other than Theresa, I am Forrest's legal guardian here and whatever I say will happen."

The petite woman kept her cool because she knew that she was right and Kai couldn't ignore laws. She tapped her stilettos impatiently, waiting for Kai to retort back. But he didn't, _much_.

"What if she doesn't want to go back," he muttered, calmly, for once.

"Her father is there."

"My parents aren't here, but I'm still here," he suggested, "she doesn't have to go with her family. She can stay here."

"Just because you don't like your family doesn't mean that she doesn't."

He was ashamed of himself. _But I do love my family. _"I care about her." He hoped that that was enough to convince Jacqueline. "I can hire the best doctor from America and—"

Miss Fan gave a sigh, and shook her head. "You don't understand, Kai. It's love that she needs to survive. She'll have pleasant dreams in America, not here. She doesn't belong here. Forrest Fan wasn't born to be in Japan; she was born to take over her father's business."

"That's what my parents thought, too. I was supposed to be my grandfather's slave but I escaped it," he paused, "why can't she?"

_It's not like I can't love Forrest_, Kai prayed.

Jacqueline looked away, crossing her arms in front of her chest and strolled towards Forrest's limp body. She uncovered the girl and look over the innocent body. Forrest's skin was deadly white. Kai could see her naked body through the thin white clothes that she was dressed in, but he wasn't embarrassed. She looked at peace. Her small frame was covered with scratches everywhere, some were covered by bandages but the blood was too much to stop.

"Kai, you don't understand her," Jacqueline finally spoke. It was a soft murmur, one that resembled that of Forrest. It seemed like she was speaking in Forrest's place, with Forrest's knowledge. "She doesn't hate her father anymore. Not like you. Sure, she did before but all that's forgotten..."

"I—" he choked and pulled on his own shirt and closed his eyes. "I don't hate my grandfather," he defended himself.

"Is that so?"

There was a long break of pure silence, which Jacqueline thoroughly enjoyed but Kai shuddered at it.

She gave him a sympathizing smile. "Do you even know what happened?" she continued.

"...No."

"Then you're in no position to judge this situation," Jacqueline sighed, "Forrest knocked her head hard. She got many stitches and the doctors are sure that she damaged something. But they're not sure what exactly she damaged. She might never be able to move again, or she might be retarded or something. That's why she needs to go back."

He opened his mouth and closed it. "You're right." _Why did I say that?_

Jacqueline was rather surprised that Kai gave up so easily. She nodded to him. "Hope that you get well soon." With that she left, her petite silhouette, resembling to that of Forrest's, disappeared into the hallways. Just then, a skinny nurse came in. He didn't budge.

"Go away. I don't need anything," he hissed coldly. The nurse frowned and backed away, offended.

He was pissed at himself. He should have protected her, he should have stopped her at the tryouts, he shouldn't have let her played in the semi-finals, he shouldn't even _know _her, he shouldn't have _kissed _her. He closed his eyes. _This is too much_.

He let his hand trail over her face and touched her lips. Suddenly, he felt a tingle in his heart. He gasped. _What did happen?_

He covered her closed eyes with his palm to comfort her. Blinded with curiosity, he looked around got his normal clothes. It was time to go back home. He needed to find out about—

"Kai!"

He jerked his head around and rolled his eyes.

"Ray," it was a statement.

"Don't be so gloomy. Turn on the TV."

He didn't move.

"Fine, I'll turn it on," Ray grumbled, looking for the power button. "There's still a bit of the finals left."

"Why aren't you with them? There people are supposed to play. You, Max and—"

_Can't people stop interrupting me? I'm having a bad day already._

"I played already. So I came here as fast as I could," he looked down, "I lost my match," the Chinese boy didn't exactly sound unhappy, "I didn't practice enough and that girl Lucy took me by surprise."

"Right." Kai grunted.

"You sound disappointed."

"I'm not," Kai confirmed. "I'm just worried."

"Oh, we're going to win for sure," Ray gave a half-smile.

"You _know _what I'm talking about."

"Oh."

Ray shut himself up and looked down.

Kai gestured towards the limp body. "That's Forrest."

"What?" the Chinese boy looked up in perplexity

"That's her body...," his voice trailed off.

Ray walked towards body and lifted the blanket. His expression was priceless, in a bad way. He was _crying_. Kai smacked his forehead.

"Oh God. What have I done?" the Chinese boy clasped his hand on his mouth and looked away, ashamed of seeing Forrest's wilted body.

"You didn't do anything," Kai reassured the boy.

"No, I started all this. Aurora would h-have never done this without my influence," Ray sat down on Kai's bed, took the pillow and stuffed it in his own face. "If I didn't make Aurora beyblade, nothing w-would have happened," came his muffled voice.

Kai didn't bother to comment until he saw his friend's flushed face tear away from the white pillow. He didn't know Ray was that emotional. Maybe the Chinese boy had gone through too much in the past months.

"They're taking her away," Kai stated flatly.

"In this state?" Ray gasped.

"That's what I thought too. She's in no condition to even move. Her head's cracked—"

"Are you fucking serious?"

In all his life, Kai has never heard Ray swear before. The Russian's tone softened.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"I... We'll miss her," Ray managed to get out before he turned on the TV, avoiding another conversation. He couldn't talk about it anymore. Enough tears were shed. Turning his head away, he wiped his face with his dirty sleeve.

Tyson's face was intense, his eyes were squinted but he seemed to be sure of himself. Even though the TV screen was so small, the boys could see their teammate concentrating deeply.

"_Dragoon!_ _Phantom Hurricane!"_

A blast appeared on the screen. The sounds weren't so great but the boys recognized the attack.

"_Sword of Justice!_"

Tyson was facing off Chase Misao from the Dreams of Eden. Kai had expected that match to come since a long time. He watched with curiosity, but his heart and brain lingered on the feelings and thoughts of the girl who was unconsciously sleeping beside his bed.

* * *

"Hold on, Dragoon!" 

The storm was big and ferocious. Tyson's anger was uncontrollable. He, too, felt Forrest's previous pain and unleashed it during the finals. He could have pitied the Dreams of Eden but he didn't. It was _his _moment.

He gritted his teeth and looked at his opponent, the tall and handsome boy.

Suddenly, he felt a great jerk backwards and fell on his butt. He groaned and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Darn it," Tyson muttered.

He lost... the second session.

"Tyson, you can do it!" Max shouted behind him.

Kenny typed with super-speed on his laptop, cramming all the data into Dizzi and waiting for results. Tyson went back to his team and waited for the Chief's orders.

"Use an earth attack against him," Kenny suggested. "He controls thunder, ice and very strong physical attacks and defenses. Attack from below when he's focused on attacking you and you'll be at an advantage."

"Sounds fair," Max nodded in agreement. "You can do this. You _need _to do this. For everyone, for Forrest, for Kai, for Ray. For the team!"

Tyson patted Max on the shoulder and grinned. "You don't need to tell me. I already know that, Maxie." The two grinned at each other.

"The third session is starting! Players get ready!"

Tyson immediately spun around and strolled to the dish, taking his time. _I can win this_.

Chase Misao looked no less confident than he was. Tyson relaxed his shoulders and set his feet properly in position to launch. His grip on the launcher was strong and steady. He was ready for the _world_.

"3, 2, 1, let it rip!"

"This is for you, Forrest!" Tyson shouted at the top of his lungs. He practically broke his ripcord in concentration. "**Earthquake!**"

He could feel a burst of energy run through his veins. It was abnormal but a great feeling. He could feel the warmth of the earth shooting out of his fingertips. He could feel the comfortable and warm feeling. _This must be how Forrest feels_.

He felt synchronized with Dragoon. With every movement, every spin, every_thing_. He could hear the galloping of Forrest's bitbeast and how Starlet would scream in rage as he charged forwards. He leaned forwards in excitement.

"Sword of Justice!" Chase shouted, tearing Tyson away from his imagination.

But still, Tyson could feel Forrest's presence beside him, teaching him how to use her attack, helping him.

"Stay strong," Chase said, his pupils focused on his blade. "This is your chance. Frozen Tundra!"

A shot of earth ran down the dish as Dragoon appeared above Tyson's blade but it was countered by the shot of ice blasts created by Chase's bitbeast.

"Atomic Reflection!" Chase shouted. His bitbeast, as a mammoth, stood firmly and reflected most damage of the attack.

"No...," Tyson frowned. "You can't win! **EARTHQUAKE!**"

Tyson raised his arm in the air and his x-ray-stare could burn through the dish. In beyblading, your enemy was still your enemy during the match.

"Swift Lightning!"

Chase's bitbeast transformed fast into a golden falcon and charged forward at great speed, evading shots of mud from the ground.

"Dragoon! Final Attack!"

Dragoon evaded the electricity shot at him and roared fiercely. The ground shook with great force as he charged forwards like a hurricane. Tyson could feel the harmony of both earth and wind in his attacks. It was ironic how the two elements could work together as one but he ignored it. The feeling was _great_.

"Atomic Reflection!"

But Chase was too late, his blade was already in mid-air after Dragoon's full-on hit.

"No!" Chase was quite taken back and shocked but ... ironically, he still smiled to himself.

"Yes!" Tyson cheered. He turned to the last of his teammates and smiled. He smiled at Forrest too; he could see her blurry silhouette sitting beside the Chief. He knew that he sounded insane but he could really see her, her heart, her spirit and everything that she's done for the team.

"Hey, Tyson," came a deep voice.

Tyson turned around.

"Great match. Want to play again sometime?" Chase grinned, offering a deal.

"Of course."

Chase Misao gave his flashing grin and a cool gesture. He ran his fingers through his hair and stepped away from the dish, proud, as if he had won.

"I achieved teamwork with my bitbeast. I'm happy for it. Tyson had more reasons to win that I did. He had the grief of a fallen comrade," Chase said to his teammates, his eyes full of unwanted pity.

* * *

He inserted the key and turned the knob softly. He really didn't want to go home. It was so empty now; no more mother, no more Forrest. Just... James and him once again. It was like none of this ever happened. Sometimes, he wished that the maids would talk to him. But they never did and never will. 

He wiped his shoes on the entrance mat and watched as one maid came towards him to clean his shoes. He looked away and strolled upstairs towards his room. He tried to avoid looking at his brother's – Forrest's—room. But he couldn't.

The old brown oak doors were so alluring. He touched the knob and turned it quickly. He could feel the cold metal against this palm and it felt so... _unreal_.

The room was just like she had left it. The bed was half-made; Theresa didn't have time to clean it yet. Her uniforms were thrown onto the couch. He crouched down and sighed. Slowly, Kai reached for her clothes and bit his lip.

"Should I hang them?"

He groaned to himself. "Now I'm talking to myself," he paused, "God, I'm insane."

He erased the thought immediately and grabbed all the clothes on the couch. He found doing chores quite... relaxing. He pulled the pile towards his chest and his closed his eyes. Her smell entered his nostrils. She didn't smell like pine trees, or vanilla, or mango, or mint, or whip cream, although, he didn't think that whip cream smelled like anything. She just smelled like her. He could also smell the little bit of sweat mixed in with the scent but he didn't mind it. It was _her_. It wasn't that nostalgic.

He just pitied her.

How she just... fell from her glory.

Everyone loved her. Even his teammates. God, he knew his teammates way longer than she did but somehow she got along with them more than they did. Plus, she even opened herself to him. She told him that she fell in love with him—even though she never got the courage to do anything romantic with him. Well, they kissed, so what? She never _kissed _him. Not that he knew of, of course. They shared what, four kisses? He lost count. He enjoyed them, she did too. But so what? But if was great with her, how she would groan when he pulled away and how when he placed his hand on her chest, he could always feel her nervous heartbeat. How he's seen her naked, several times too, but she never knew. How he would watch her practice swimming and beyblading but she wouldn't know.

He suddenly dropped the clothes and sighed to himself. He lowered his gaze and fell on her bed. He ran his hand through his stuck-up hair. "Stop bugging me."

He looked around at the room. She had little things left; she had already packed most of her belongings in a leather trunk sitting on the floor. Suddenly, his gaze landed on her laptop. He sighed.

"I guess that this is... mine now."

He didn't need it. But he wanted to keep it. Just in case. "She'll come back. She belongs here."

Of course, he was in no position to judge for her, but he knew that she was attached to Japan. If not... she was attached to him. He wished.

He opened the machine and waited for it to run. It was the first time that he actually used her computer. He looked through some of the folders and files quickly and stopped suddenly at one in particular. It was located in his 'Japanese' folder.

'Journal.'

He arched an eyebrow in response and merely smiled to himself. Scratch that, he smirked to himself, full of mischief again.

"So I am going to find out if she belongs here or not."

Sure, he did respect her privacy but she was... gone after all. He double-clicked on and waited. To his surprise, a word-document with over forty pages appeared.

"She sure did get a lot of writing practice," he told himself, erasing the thought of how ridiculous it was for him to talk to himself.

He started reading.

_Ohayo_, it started in Japanese. Kai looked over the page.

"Maybe this is her Japanese homework."

_Today was my first day of school. Nothing much happened. But Kai scared me. I caught him with his girlfriend. They kissed. I ran. And I hid under a tree. But he found me and I was very scared. I don't know what is going to happen next. I hope that we become friends someday._

He paused as it was the end of her first entry. It was obviously not well written. But still, he could relive every single moment. It might seem simple but Kai knew how Forrest struggled in Japanese, it must have taken her a long time even to get those few words out.

He skimmed the next few pages about Ray and her and came to a more interesting article and more readable article as her Japanese became a little better.

_Swimming was horrible enough today. But Kai got drunk last night and that was worse. I was scared that he would puke on me. But he didn't. He kissed me. Hai, he kissed me. I'm still confused. But I guess that I was relieved that he kissed me. Since Ray is gone nothing happened. I wonder what I would say to Kai now. But he probably doesn't know because he thought that I was Felicia. Felicia is his girlfriend for two months, I think. He likes her a lot. He even talks about her when he is drunk. So it was just a fantasy, I guess._

Kai's eyes widened. He knew that she liked him, of course, but not so much. Not since the beginning of things.

He could almost feel her presence beside him, like she was letting him read through her memories, like she was confessing. But she wasn't. She was hiding all her feelings inside of her.

However, the next entry was even more _interesting_.

_I can't remember what happened last night. I think that I got drunk. I feel horrible. But I am trying so hard to remember. I remember the party, a game with a bottle and... Kai and I went inside the closet in the study room. It was tiny. I could touch him. He was stuck and he panicked. But he looked so good. Of course, I was more nervous than him. We kissed. He knew this time. He tasted like very sweet mint covered chocolate. It was great. I like him a lot. I like him because he is nice to me and he is strong and dedicated. He holds much honor. I have never met anyone like him. I hope that we can become great friends. Hopefully more. I want him to be beside me right now. Then we can talk quietly. And maybe he would even kiss me._

He gawked.

He almost banged his head on the table in frustration.

Why didn't he know about this? After all, it did concern him... her journal was all about him.

"Oh God. I would kiss you, if you can come back. I'd do anything. You were, no, you are a great friend. I don't want to lose you either," he responded to the computer, no matter how foolish he sounded.

In the next entry, however, everything changed. Forrest hadn't written for over a month and Kai wondered why.

_Sorry that I haven't written. But I've worked hard both inside of school and outside. I work at the TV now, did I forget to tell you? _

He felt like she was speaking to him. "Her Japanese did get better."

_Anyway, I met some great friends although I know that Aurora still hates me to death. It's alright because I don't like her either. She's such a hypocrite at times. But I can't blame her for being jealous of her beauty. School's been busy, that's why I couldn't write. Yesterday was Christmas and it wasn't that good. I did get many presents but it feels so gloomy. Kai and I don't talk anymore. We've fallen apart. I'm not sure why but I don't regret it much anymore. I've told him that I liked him. He responded by ignoring me. He can be such a bastard sometime. I wish that he'd hear himself talk sometime. Then he'd know how much he hurts people with his words. That's all for now. I need to swim._

Breathing hard, he closed his eyes and relaxed against the chair. Had he been so bad? He didn't know. She never told him And it seems that she didn't intend to either. He gripped his hair and sighed. He couldn't go on reading all this shit about him being evil. He scrolled down two pages, finding a much shorter but _happier_ entry.

_We hugged. It was cold and sprinkling but we hugged! I feel so happy now. I've been waiting for him to apologize, but he didn't. So at the end, I apologized. I was glad that I did because I feel so much better now. I should go take a shower. Sayonara!_

_PS: Does it mean anything, anything when you feel so safe in someone's arms? Is it destiny? I wonder. Because I felt that with Kai._

_Maybe, maybe that means that I love him?_

_Could it be?_

He paused and scrolled down, but then realized that he was at the bottom of the document. He frowned and focused his pupils on the screen. "She can't end it here! I want to know!" he roared at the machine, his fists clenched and his jaw tight.

But he couldn't be tense for long, besides, he was still injured. "I want to know... if she truly belongs here. Maybe if she did love me, she'd be better here."

He was about to give up.

But of course, he didn't. If Forrest was that hopeful for him, then the least that he could do was to be hopeful for her. So he looked on the last page and found it. She was very clever. Almost too clever for him.

He clicked the mouse and dragged it over the line. She changed the text to a very light silver color, hiding it almost completely from the white page. He changed the font back to black and bit his lip. It was in English this time.

_I'm done with this now. I think that this served its purpose. But somehow, somehow, I just don't want to delete this file. It contains my soul and perhaps, when I forget about Japan when I go back, I'll reread this and cry. And maybe, just maybe, I'll have the courage to make Kai read this when I'm gone. Maybe I'll just leave this here, on my computer, and he can know what truly happened, how I feel about all of this and... Especially about him. Then... I'd wish that he'd come to the airport and tell me that he loves me too just before I leave, like in those romantic movies. Because I know that I'll love him. And I know that it's not a puppy love anymore. It has evolved into so much more. His mere presence can make me feel so safe and secure. I wish that I could stay in his arm forever, feeling that security forever, but I can't. So I leave you with this. Thanks for the company and goodbye. And Kai, if you are reading this, I thank you for giving me the chance to battle in the semi-finals. Let's hope that I win, alright? _

He jumped from his seat and realized something that he didn't before.

"Fuck, her plane is leaving in ten minutes!"

Immediately, he sprung from his seat and started his journey to recapture his past. He wanted it back, he wanted her back. Maybe he didn't exactly love her, but he knew that with her, everything felt so much better. And maybe, just maybe, she'd want to live in the same house as him again. So it wouldn't be just James and him.

He sprinted down the stairs and grabbed his keys out of his pockets. Without paying much attention to the carpet, he slid over it and bumped into the door. Then he opened it and rushed outside to a car. He wasn't a great driver. He had once bribed some close friend to give him a fake driver's license but this wasn't the time. He didn't care.

The engine started immediately and he stepped on the gas pedals forcefully. The motor roared like a tiger and the car zoomed away. At least something worked that day.

"You better be on there, Forrest Fan!"

He passed two red lights and almost ran over a pedestrian walking a dog. He would have gotten at least 20 tickets for speeding but he didn't care. Money was _nothing _for him. Not now, not forever.

Finally, he arrived. His car was left there, one wheel on the sidewalk and the head jammed into the bumper of another car. He slammed the door and rushed in the automatic doors, pushing all of the people away.

"Flight to Los Angeles, USA departing in two minutes from terminal 25A! All passengers ..."

He screamed. "No, shit, fuck. **NO!**"

He rushed to the 'Air USA' stall and cut in front of the line. "Stop the airplane, now! I'll do anything!"

"Excuse me, sir. That was rude to do. Wait for your turn, at the back of the line."

"No, you don't understand! I need to talk to someone on there!"

"Why don't you just wait patiently and call that person when they land in LAX, alright? Next person in line!"

He slammed his fist at the counter and turned away. "No hell way that I'm going to give up."

Immediately, he set running for the terminals. The customs almost stopped him but he stormed right past the first couples of them. But the fifth guard pulled him.

"It's Kai Hiwatari from the Bladebreakers. I need to go, now! Here, here," he chucked his wallet at them. "My IDs are in there. **Let me go!**"

He struggled out of their grasps and ran for his life. He made a rough turn and his shoes screeched against the mopped floor.

His face fell.

No one was there. There was no one on the counter.

Absolutely no one.

"No!"

He stormed to the gate and entered. Someone tried to stop him but he didn't stop to listen. His feet were killing him but he didn't give up. He saw the clearing, a bright light and then...

Forrest.

It was her, her black hair flowing in the wind and---

No.

It was too good to be true.

It wasn't her.

It was...Jacqueline.

He wanted to cry.

"No! Let me see her!" he roared. He bit his lip so hard that he drew blood, for real this time. He pounded his fists on the wall, knowing that she would never let him go to the plane.

Besides... Forrest... was gone.

"Kai, I'm sorry. But she's gone. I updated her seat to first class and Theresa went with her. She'll get the best care where she is. There is a great doctor waiting to treat her right when she gets off the plane."

How could she be so calm? Forrest was gone. Forrest was still unconscious Forrest was her cousin. Didn't family matter?

"Please..." he begged. "Let me pass."

She did. Except... he came to a dead end. The hot air blew against him. The airplane was gone and some workers yelled at them to get off of the portable tunnel. He shouted back in Russian loudly and clearly. He was desperate for some attention. But no one seemed to hear him.

"Don't give up," came Jacqueline's warm voice, one that resembled that of Forrest's. "You need to have enough hope for the both of you."

"How? How can I? When I know that she might die!" he went insane.

There was a moment of pure silence where he grieved for his lost, his stupidity. He tore himself away from reality and dived into a black hole.

But someone saved him.

He felt her hand on his shoulder, reassuring him. His vision was blurred. She looked like Forrest. She felt like Forrest.

But she wasn't Forrest.

He was so deceived. So ashamed. So ... vulnerable. How could someone make him regret living his life? How could she bring so much pain and love at the same time? Why was she the hope? Why did his heart hurt so much?

He was a wilted flower, once a strong and burning fire, but now weak and left alone. His glory was short lived.

Slowly, his hand traced up to his shoulders and he closed his eyes. He hugged himself, tight, and sobbed like a little boy. He felt her presence beside him and saw her transparent arms enlace him He blushed, a soft pink blush crept up his cheeks and he moaned. He felt so safe in her arms, so safe with her.

"The truth is..."

He looked at her through his tears but realized that she wasn't truly there. She was just a mere piece of his life, of his imagination, out of the millions. He felt numb again, all the bruises and scars that he conceived during his life all consumed him at the same time. But still, that wasn't even one millionth of the pain that he felt inside.

_You're gone. And I couldn't do anything about it. And I'm sorry to leave you. But this is the end. And I'm sorry that all that you've done for me, and for the team, was never repaid. _

"... that I love you."

_But everything will get better, right?_

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**Fin**

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**Author's Notes: **You're at the end, I seriously congratulate you for making it this far without falling asleep, hehe. I hope that you guys like this chapter as... it pretty much took all the creative juices out of me. If you cried, tell me. 'Cause I almost did, well, almost. I've been so tired lately. I hope that I achieved the realism that I wanted. I wanted to write a full story for once, not counting one-shots, and I did it! I'm pretty proud of myself. And I really, really, really hope that you guys can give me suggestions for the sequel. How to avoid clichés and Mary-Sues and all that. 

So anyway, on with the thanks and etc.

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**Bundles of hugs to:**

-Cookie- l Tohma 911 l, Alexandra Lyne, Alinor, Anei, AnimeGirl329, beyblade-rocks, daitouryoumania, darkmagiciangirl18, fallen phoenix of darkness, Hikari Konoshiro, jessi-da-anime-luver, kaizgirl1, Kaycomon, KHiwatari's girl, kuririncute222, LadyOfTheBluePhoenix, MetaMorphoSer, NaMeLeSsLiTtLeGiRl-K, Phoenix from the Flames-2, ravenfromhell17007, Ray-Tiger-Cat, Risen From the Ashes, Sanity Challenged, and Sugar911

**who** **have this story on favorites. You guys are great!**

**Thank you to:**

Alexandra Lyne, Alinor, AngelDranger, AnimeGirl329, beyblade-rocks, Blue flame phoenix, dark Alley, Dark-Dragon-Chick, elementBLUE, glam-kitten, HeartlessDevil, Hikari Konoshiro, kaizgirl1, Kakarot45, Kaycomon, kelblossom1128, kuririncute222, MetaMorphoSer, Moonlight Star Phoenix-chama, morjonse, Phoenix from the Flames-2, Ray-Tiger-Cat, Risen From the Ashes, Sanity Challenged, shadisparrow, SnowNeko, soda is good, SpiritualEnergy, Sugar911, Sweet1221, the perfect oasis, and twin1

**who** **have this story on alert. Love you! **But you guys can take it off now 'cause it's done.

**Thank you for the support all the way.**

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The sequel hopefully will be up before summer vacation and I attempt to make it lots shorter because I won't have time to write next year, as a Junior/11th grader. 

If you want, leave your email or just your pen name and I'll warn you guys when the first chapter of the sequel will be up.

Otherwise, I hope that you guys had fun reading and if you have time go read "Fallen from Grace" and "Chaos of the Bey" (co-written with AnimeGirl329).

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**And if you're a new reader, don't be scared to review, I accept any late reviews or emails or anything. It will help me improve how the sequel goes. Sorry but I don't need any girl OC's for the sequel but if you want, you could submit a male OC.**

**And if you have this story on favorites...** **I really want to know why you like it, I mean, I know that I sound bitchy but I have at least 30 people who have this on favorites and no one reviews. It'll help me a lot in the sequel if I know what good stuff to keep and bad stuff to throw out.**

**

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Characters reappearing in the sequel:

-the Bladebreakers (including Forrest)

-Aurora Lyn

-Janet

-Shayna Tanaka (elementBLUE's OC, if she doesn't mind)

-Namiko Hunter (Hikari Konoshiro's OC, if she doesn't mind)

Love.

PS: This story is officially more than **100,000** words now. And I did go through to take out all the review replies and some extra author notes for future readers.

Once again, **THANK YOU**!


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